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Syringes can be seen in the foreground of graphs of COVID-19 cases and the name of the new variant Omicron. (Reuters/Yonhap News)

With a new COVID-19 variant now having spread to multiple nations, concerns are growing worldwide. We have compiled a short Q&A to address the possible dangers of the Omicron variant and the effectiveness of existing vaccines.

It’s a new variant of COVID-19 that was first detected in South Africa. With around 50 total mutations, it is far more mutated than any other variant that has been reported, including Delta, which means that it’s likely to be easily transmissible. It’s regarded as the most worrisome COVID-19 variant next to Delta.

The Washington Post and other major newspapers reported on Saturday that Tulio de Oliveira, the director of the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation in South Africa, the first country to report this variant, had found at least 30 mutations in the variant’s spike protein. As the spike protein is what allows the virus to bind to potential host cells, the large number of mutations could make the variant highly contagious. The World Health Organization has stated that this variant may be more capable of reinfection than any other variant. Fortunately, the Omicron variant can be detected with existing PCR tests.

Disease control experts have said it’s too early to tell exactly how dangerous this variant is with the little data that has been collected, so they advise the public to stay alert but not to panic. Professor Ian Sanne, a member of South Africa’s Ministerial Advisory Council on COVID-19, stated that Omicron is now becoming the dominant COVID-19 variant found in South Africa and that “overall, we do think it’s more transmissible.”

A medical worker at an international airport in South Africa’s Johannesburg conducts a PCR test on a traveler. (AFP/Yonhap News)

Experts say that existing vaccines won’t be completely ineffectual against this variant. Sanne said that even though the sample of people infected with the variant is small, the rate of breakthrough infections is comparatively high. However, he also said that vaccines remain effective and that most patients who have been hospitalized are unvaccinated.

Jesse Bloom, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the US, said that the Omicron variant is probably “not going to ablate or completely escape that type of antibody neutralization,” adding that “there are certain obvious things you can do: Get vaccinated, get a booster vaccination, wear a mask.”

The pharmaceutical companies that have been manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines announced on Friday that they’re working to respond to the Omicron variant and are optimistic about the results. Pfizer stated that, even if this proves to be an escape variant, Pfizer and its co-developer BioNTech can adapt their vaccine to pass regulatory approval and enter production within 100 days. Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen, AstraZeneca, and Moderna have also said that research is underway.

If the number of confirmed cases and deaths shows a rapid increase, various countries may have to resume social distancing or other disease control measures. In the worst-case scenario, lockdowns will have to be considered. However, many scientists are more confident about responding to this variant than they were during the spread of the Alpha and Delta variants, the Financial Times reported.

As the discovery of the Omicron variant was promptly reported to the authorities, the response to this variant has been rapid. The variant is also unlikely to completely overcome the immunity produced by vaccination and previous infections. With high vaccination rates, this variant is expected to cause less damage than the Alpha or Delta variants.

By Jung E-gil, senior staff writer

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