Since December of 2019, when COVID-19 first appeared and then spread like wildfire, humanity has been conscious of the people around them and the things they touch and share. While the world has been locked down and attempting to return to normalcy, there have been several types of Covid-19 variants, the most concerning of which are the Delta and Omicron variants.
Omicron is a new variant discovered in November 2021 by a South African doctor in South Africa. To avoid public confusion and stigma, the WHO named this variant after the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet. The CNBC reported that the highly transmissible Omicron variant has spread throughout the world, including Europe, Brazil, Japan, Australia, Canada, and the United States as of December.
“From the U.S. to Germany and Saudi Arabia to Australia, the Covid-19 omicron variant has spread to dozens of countries globally,” said CNBC.
The symptoms are relatively the same in containing flu-like symptoms: dry coughs, fever, night sweats, and many-body pains. Researchers say it spreads more quickly than Covid-19 but are unsure if it applies faster than Delta. If this variant is more severe than the other variants, it’s still unclear due to the small number of cases being reported. However, scientists are still worried if Omicron could cause more harm than Covid-19.
According to the CDC, Omicron can break vaccines because it was not specifically designed for it, but it is effective at lowering the chances of severe illness, hospitalization, and death. Both the White House and the CDC strongly advise people to get the vaccine, as well as booster shots, if they haven’t already. The CDC advises those who are eligible to get the booster shot.
“CDC also recommends that everyone 5 years and older protect themselves from COVID-19 by getting fully vaccinated. CDC encourages a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose for those who are eligible.”
“It doesn’t surprise me that there doesn’t seem to be any severe illness cases now that it’s the second year of the pandemic; it has evolved to the point that it’s not going to kill the host,” says Ms. Perez, an Environmental teacher who studied viruses.
“Because we have used these different treatments to get rid of it, the virus is going to evolve with its host and try to circumvent all of these strategies. With the Omicron variant, they’ve predicted 30 mutations around the spike proteins that have caused it to change drastically […] it doesn’t surprise me that this variant came from an area that has little if any vaccinations,” she continues.
This new variant has the potential to spread quickly, but it should not become more powerful than Covid-19 and force students to return home. Humanity will be fine as long as students continue to wash their hands and follow hygienic routines.
