View | Omicron fears have just gotten worse; what lies ahead?

The number of daily Omicron cases around the world is increasing rapidly, particularly in the UK, Denmark, Norway, and South Africa. The countries with a surge in Covid cases are also reporting a high incidence of the Omicron variant.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had recently warned that the Omicron variant spreads at a rate not seen with any other variant. 

“Currently, 77 countries have reported cases of Omicron, but the reality is that the variant is probably in most countries, although it has not yet been detected,” said the Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at a press conference.

The variant's global spread suggests it could have a major impact on the COVID-19 pandemic, and the time to contain it is now, before more Omicron patients are hospitalised, Ghebreyesus said.

“We should not dismiss Omicron as mild. Even if Omicron does cause severe disease, the number of cases could once again overwhelm health systems. Based on current limited evidence, Omicron appears to be spreading at a faster rate not seen with any other previous variant. Emerging data from  South Africa suggests increased risks of infection with Omicron,” says Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia.

The government needs to make a quick reassessment of its strategies and speed up the vaccination programme.   It is however not very clear whether the vaccine is effective against the variant or not.

A new study by Columbia University says the Omicron variant is “markedly resistant” to vaccines, and boosters might not do much to help, spelling bad news for the country as Omicron spreads and COVID-19 cases rise nationally.

“A striking feature of this variant is the large number of spike mutations that pose a threat to the efficacy of current COVID-19 vaccines and antibody therapies,” said to the study. 

The WHO on Friday issued an emergency use listing to Covovax, Serum Institute of India's version of Novavax Inc's Covid-19 vaccine. The agency said that Novovax's own vaccine is currently under assessment by the European Medicines Agency, and will complete its own assessment of this vaccine once the EMA has issued its recommendation.

India currently has the highest vaccination rate in the world. The average daily doses administered in the country is 74.31 lakh, which is 4.8 times more than that in the United States and 12.5 times more than in the United Kingdom

The country has so far administered 82.82 crore first doses and 53.72 crore second doses. More than 136 crore doses have been administered in the country, which is 2.8 times the total doses administered in the USA (48.6 crore)

On November 26, the WHO designated B.1.1.529 a variant of concern (VOC) because of preliminary evidence of a detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology. As a variant of concern, it was named Omicron. 

In early November, scientists in South Africa identified the variant in a patient with COVID-19 from Botswana, a country that borders South Africa. Subsequently, the variant was detected in South Africa

According to WHO, Omicron has a large number of mutations, including more than 30 genetic mutations of the spike protein. The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 is targeted by some of the currently approved COVID-19 vaccines; mutations in the spike protein therefore need to be closely monitored. 

Some mutations have previously been associated with increasing transmissibility and making it easier for the virus to bind and attach to cells.