Omikron: origin, immune protection, transferability – what is known about the corona variant and what is not

Researchers around the world are working flat out to find out more about the newly discovered omicron variant of the coronavirus. What is known so far? What not?

Berlin – Initial findings indicate that the Corona variant could be more easily transmitted and vaccines could be less effective. An overview of the current state of knowledge about Omikron:

Omicron: origin

It is still unclear where the variant with the scientific name B.1.1.529 comes from. According to the South African epidemiologist Salim Abdool Karim, it was “first described in Botswana and shortly afterwards in South Africa”.

South African scientists officially announced the discovery last Thursday. At this time there were already the first cases of infection in Hong Kong. Omicron cases have now been detected in numerous countries around the world.

Omicron: mutations

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the new variant as “worrying” because of the large number of mutations. Some of these mutations have also occurred in other virus variants, such as the delta variant, which is rampant worldwide, and have led to greater transmissibility of the virus and reduced effectiveness of the vaccines. But other mutations are new – and their meaning is still completely unclear.

The Omicron variant has more mutations than any other coronavirus variant, says Professor Mosa Moshabela, Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. “We have seen some of these mutations before in Delta and Beta,” but others are completely new to the researchers and “we do not know what the combination of these mutations will mean”.

According to the virologist Tulio de Oliveira, a total of around 50 mutations were found, including around 30 changes in the spike protein. With this surface protein, the pathogen docks onto human cells and penetrates them. After an infection or vaccination, the immune system makes antibodies against the spike protein.

Omikron: immune protection

Major changes to the spike protein allow the virus to bypass the immune protection acquired through vaccination or an infection. The WHO fears that Omikron could be a so-called immune escape variant. How this will affect the effectiveness of the existing vaccines is still unclear.

Karim expects that the vaccines will continue to provide good protection, at least against a severe course of the disease. The head of the US vaccine manufacturer Moderna, Stephane Bancel, fears that the vaccine will be less effective. “All the scientists I’ve spoken to say, ‘This is not going to be good,'” he said in a newspaper interview.

Omikron: Transferability

Statistics from South Africa indicate that the Omikron variant is significantly more contagious than previous variants. Almost three quarters of the corona cases reported in South Africa in the past few days were caused by the new variant.

The so-called positive rate, the proportion of positive corona tests, rose in South Africa last week from 3.6 percent on Wednesday to 9.8 percent on Sunday. Karim expects more than 10,000 new cases of infection per day this week – two weeks ago it was only 275 per day on average.

Some of the already known mutations would have led to earlier variants “that the virus can spread easily and quickly,” says Moshabela. “And that’s why we suspect that the new variant will spread quickly.”

Omicron: symptoms and course

Not much is known about the symptoms and the course of infection with the Omicron variant. The South African doctor Angelique Coetzee, who treated the first victim, initially reported only mild symptoms. In the meantime, however, the number of hospital admissions in South Africa is increasing sharply.

The French infectiologist Yazdan Yazdanpanah also warned against jumping to conclusions: There is not yet enough data to assess the course of the disease. A death in connection with an omicron infection has not yet been determined according to the WHO. (AFP) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

Headline list image: © Frank Hoermann / SVEN SIMON via