Scrambling to know more  

Omicron. The word of the hour. A variant scientists and vaccine companies are scrambling to know more about. When word of this new threat to mankind emerged, countries initiated what many would call a knee-jerk reaction, border and travel restrictions. South Africa is criticizing countries for seemingly punishing them for sounding the alarm. But a knee-jerk reaction may be a valid one for a country concerned by another variant that may alter our lives again.

We just can’t seem to get a break. As it seemed we were all off to a much better holiday season, Omicron throws a monkey wrench. So, what exactly do we know about Omicron? Interviews with doctors treating patients in South Africa have said what they are currently seeing are mild symptoms. No reports yet of severe cases in South Africa or other countries that have reported Omicron have reached their shores. The first Omicron case in the US has just been reported and according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the person was a traveler from South Africa, exhibited mild symptoms, was fully vaccinated, and is recovering. From all accounts, it seems Omicron is not as bad as Delta.

But scientists, researchers, and even the vaccine companies say it is too early to draw any conclusions about how an Omicron infection progresses and its effect on current vaccines. I can understand why the world wants answers. We all want to get back on track. We all want that assurance, at least for the vaccinated, we have adequate protection to deal with this. But as has been said, it is too early to tell. Too early to carve anything in stone.

The unfortunate reality of wanting to know everything about Omicron is that we have to see it infect individuals. Only when it latches onto a host can we see how the body reacts. This is true for both vaccinated and the unvaccinated. But as has been said so many times, the vaccinated have fewer chances of developing severe symptoms.

So, we turn our attention to the vaccines. Both Pfizer and Moderna initially issued disconcerting statements about the lesser efficacy of their respective vaccines against Omicron. But both companies have assured they are well prepared to address this. As more data come in about how Omicron behaves, they will have a better understanding to tweak their vaccines. Moderna has recently announced they could have a reformulated vaccine against Omicron early next year. I’m certain Pfizer, which also uses the mRNA platform would make a similar announcement.

While that is good news, we need something to finally kill this beast. If only it would stop mutating. But with millions still unvaccinated, the virus has plenty of fertile ground to transform into something else. As one US governor said, it is time to blame the unvaccinated. You really must admire someone like Jonas Salk, developer of the polio vaccine, as to what he had to work with during those times. He was fortunate not to have anti-vaccine idiots to deal with, unlike today.