Omicron could become dominant variant in UK within weeks, expert warns
pharmafile | December 6, 2021 | News story | Research and Development |
Infectious diseases expert, Professor Paul Hunter, has warned that Omicron could become the UK’s dominant COVID-19 variant within weeks.
The UK reported 43,992 new cases on Sunday 5. The emergence of Omicron has challenged the efficacy of current vaccines; South African researchers have reported that the variant has “substantial ability to evade immunity from prior infection”. Despite this, vaccines and immunologists in the UK have said that the variant is unlikely to evade vaccines entirely.
Nevertheless, it could take two weeks or longer to know the true efficacy of current vaccines in the face of Omicron.
Travellers entering to the UK will now have to take a COVID-19 test before their departure, to prevent the spread of the virus. However, these new travel restrictions have reportedly been too delayed to prevent the spread of Omicron, Professor Mark Woolhouse, member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, has said. Woolhouse commented that community transmission is likely to fuel another wave.
The total number of confirmed Omicron cases now stands at 246, according to the UK Health Security Agency. All contacts of suspected cases must now self-isolate for ten days to help prevent the spread of the variant.
Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, one of the creators of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, has also warned that future pandemics could prove more dangerous than the current COVID-19 crisis. The spike protein on the new variant contains mutations known to increase the transmissibility of the virus, and Gilbert has urged people to be more cautious until there is more information available on the Omicron threat.
Lina Adams
