The First Catch
The first verified Omicron infection was found in a South African specimen taken in early November 2021. Many nations have since imposed travel bans or limitations on visitors from Africa, including South Africa, despite not yet knowing if this strain is to be blamed for the country's rapid spread or if it even originated there — a pretty unfair treatment, if you ask me, but that’s a story for another day!
According to The Guardian, the Omicron variation has since been confirmed in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Malaysia, and who knows what other country may pop up next! There’s still a chance that the Omicron variation has spread unnoticed to other nations, despite the fact that governments throughout the world have already closed their borders to South Africa and others.
With all this information, it really shows us that almost 2 years into the pandemic, the healthcare systems all over the world are still as vulnerable as ever, that we’re nowhere as close to the end of the pandemic as we thought we were, and we’re probably not as equipped to prepare for a second pandemic as we should be.
A Microscopic Look at Omicron
Now let's dive in a little deeper and catch a glimpse of the symptoms of Omicron, how it can be treated, and whether it affects the efficiency of vaccines.
According to the World Health Organisation, there’s currently no information to suggest that the symptoms of the Omicron variant, which was first identified in Botswana, are different from other COVID-19 strains. However, it’s been revealed that early cases appear to be mild where some of the symptoms reported includes headaches, body aches, as well as a scratchy throat. Unlike the Delta variants, patients have so far not reported a loss of taste or smell and no major drop in oxygen levels.
Moving on to the next key feature we’ve to look at is its transmissibility. In general, transmissibility is the ability of a disease or trait being able to spread from one person to another. In this case, it’s not really clear that Omicron is more transmissible when we compare it to other variants such as the Delta variant. WHO further updates that while the number of people who are tested positive for Omicron has risen significantly in South Africa, epidemiological studies are still being conducted to determine whether this is due to Omicron or other factors.
According to Executive Dean of Taylor’s Faculty of Health and Medical Science Emeritus Professor P.T. Thomas, "While there still needs to be testing to confirm this, Omicron has many mutations as compared to the original virus and it appears that those mutations make the variant more transmissible.” Preliminary research suggests that the Omicron variant may have a higher probability of reinfection than other Variants-of-Concern (VOC) (i.e. those who have previously had COVID-19 may be more easily reinfected with Omicron), although data is limited.
In the next few days and weeks, more information about this will become more accessible.