“Variant of Concern”: COVID’s New Variant Can Bring the World to Its Knees Again
The new COVID’s “variant of concern,” as it is labeled by the World Health Organization (WHO), has made scientists and top health experts concerned about the danger it poses.
As a result, the US has announced a travel ban on eight South African nations, where the Omicron variant was discovered, noting that it will help them buy some time to explore the virus further before it somehow comes into the country.
The COVID strain, which is reportedly capable of invading the immune system of already vaccinated people and those with natural immunity, has started negatively affecting the US economic system as well, with the stock exchanges nosediving just after the variant made headlines.
While the COVID cases started declining worldwide due to the increase in vaccinations, the new variant is promising to bring the world to its knees once again.
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Omicron variant of coronavirus has supposedly more mutations than other variants which makes it difficult to be prevented by the already existing vaccines.[/caption]
Omicron Variant has Reinforced Need for Vaccination Mandate
All top pharmaceutical giants are in the process of testing the efficacy of their vaccines against the newly found strain of the coronavirus, with little optimistic hopes.
While the further course of action is stopped until the final result of vaccination studies is out, the need for a vaccination mandate will once again be reinforced if some existing vaccine comes out effective against the Omicron variant.
However, if none of the vaccines is efficacious against it, Pfizer has already declared that the company has the capability to make a new vaccination against Omicron within 100 days, subject to FDA’s approval.
Although the danger of the new variant is yet to be identified by global scientists, including the transmission rate of the virus, it is supposedly more dangerous due to its high number of mutations.
Thus, if the ongoing studies reach the conclusion that Omicron has the capability to evade existing vaccines and disturb the world order once again due to its higher transmission rate, the administration may need a new vaccine mandate to curb the newly emerging strain.
It is very much possible that the new variant has already entered the United States, and the administration also acknowledges it.
The fact that the UK reported two cases of Omicron despite having a travel ban from the impacted countries suggests that the virus has already crossed borders.
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Just like Delta variant pushed the world into chaos, Omicron variant of COVID can also pose a similar threat to the world, which is alarming the global leaders to take precautionary measures as soon as possible.[/caption]
Omicron Variant: Another Delta Variant of the CoronaVirus
The Indian version of the coronavirus, the Delta variant, has already triggered chaos in the world recently, with India gasping for oxygen and the cases in the United States jumping to an all-time high.
Reportedly, the Omicron variant will be four times as dangerous as the Delta variant wave, so virtually, it has the capability to choke the world once again and start the everlasting debate of mask and vaccine mandates in the US as well, further creating partisan tensions.
The Republican states have already started banning the vaccination mandates all over the country, with states like Florida and Texas have already outlawed them.
Thus the new variant can create a reasonable spike in those states, considering the COVID transmission rate is higher in winter. So coupled with the weather, the new strain will really be “a variant of concern” for the authorities trying to curb the virus.
But the outbreak of the Omicron virus will not act in isolation at all, considering that the immunity level of many Americans has already been declining. This had already prompted the administration to encourage booster shots.
Recently, the hospitalization rates among the fully vaccinated people have been increasing, which raised alarms for the incumbents, urging them to put emphasis on the booster shots.
Now, at this time, the arrival of the new strain is even more dangerous as now people have to fight against more strains at the same time.
Final Thoughts
With the passage of time, the hopes for the post-pandemic world were improving, but this new virus will once again bring most of the countries back to square one.
And in the countries where this variant has actually emerged, the vaccination rate was among the lowest in the world, with the rising vaccine apartheid and vaccine nationalism in action there.
Thus, once again, it recalls the global demands about a vaccine patent waiver so that everyone can get the immunity they deserve.
https://www.thesheel.com/omicron-variant-will-bring-back-delta-virus-days/?feed_id=1890&_unique_id=6387fafac95c1
