Omicron Variant of Covid-19: WHO on What We Know About The B.1.1.529 Strain of Coronavirus

The discovery of the B.1.1.529 variant of the coronavirus in South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and other countries has brought fresh concern about the rising tally of COVID-19 cases across the world. The variant has been named ‘Omicron’ after the 15th Greek alphabet and has been designated a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organisation. The variant is causing alarm across countries as it appears to have a high number of mutations in the coronavirus’ spike protein. The spike protein is attributed with the capability of binding to human cells and causing infection and a high number of mutations could allow this variant to escape vaccine immunity. The WHO said that preliminary evidence “suggests an increased risk of reinfection” compared to other variants of concern but scientists are studying cases of infection in more detail before conclusions can be drawn regarding its potency.