Omicron (B.1.1.529) - What scientists know about the new variant

[pasayten]

Moderna Says Covid-19 Booster Dose Works Against Omicron Variant in Lab Tests
Booster shot significantly increased levels of immune-system antibodies against Omicron in the experiments, company says

Moderna said the authorized dosage of its Covid-19 vaccine booster shot increased levels of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron about 37 times more than pre-boost levels.

Moderna Inc. MRNA 4.53% said a third dose of its Covid-19 vaccine increased immune responses against the Omicron coronavirus variant compared with two doses in lab tests, signaling the shot could still offer protection despite the variant’s mutations.

The findings, reported by Moderna on Monday, were the latest positive—though preliminary—results from lab tests suggesting boosters can protect against the worrisome new strain.

The Cambridge, Mass., company said the authorized dosage of its booster shot increased levels of immune-system agents known as neutralizing antibodies against Omicron about 37 times more than pre-boost levels.

Neutralizing antibodies are among the first soldiers that the immune system deploys to battle invaders like the coronavirus.

“What we showed is when you boost, you get a good brisk increase in antibody levels and they would be correlated with protection,” Moderna Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said in an interview.

The authorized booster shot is half the dose level used for each of the first two shots of the vaccine.

Together with similar results from lab testing by Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE, Moderna’s findings suggest Covid-19 vaccines designed to fight the virus strain that was predominant during 2020 may still hold up well against variants such as Omicron that are significantly mutated.

Yet people would have to get a booster shot on top of the primary series of vaccinations to gain the protection.

When Omicron emerged, researchers and health authorities expressed concern that the variant could evade vaccines because it has many mutations to the spike protein targeted by the shots.

Adding to their fears was research indicating that Omicron is less susceptible to two doses of Moderna’s and other Covid-19 vaccines.


Lab-test results released last week by a team of researchers from Moderna, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Duke University showed that two doses of Moderna’s vaccine had significantly reduced neutralization activity against Omicron.

The findings from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are based on lab tests, not the clinical trials in volunteers that are considered more definitive.

Moderna disclosed its booster results, which haven’t been peer reviewed and published in a scientific journal, in a news release. The company plans to share the data with government health officials.

The Omicron variant was identified in late November in southern Africa and has now spread to many countries, including the U.S.

Early studies suggest it spreads faster and reinfects people more easily than other variants and it evades vaccine-induced antibodies to a greater degree. It isn’t known yet whether Omicron causes more or less severe Covid-19.

The new data may reinforce calls by public-health officials for vaccinated people to get booster shots. In the U.S., only about 29.5% of fully vaccinated people have received booster doses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Moderna also found that using a full dose for the third shot packed a more powerful punch than the authorized booster dose. A third full dose increased neutralizing antibodies against Omicron about 83 times more than pre-boost levels.

Dr. Burton said government regulators may want to consider recommending the higher-dose boosters to increase protection, at least among people at higher risk of more severe Covid-19.

However, in a separate study, Moderna said people receiving the higher-dose booster had more frequent adverse reactions than those who received the lower dose.

Dr. Burton said the reactions include headache, fever and joint stiffness and should be balanced against the potential benefits of a higher-dose booster.


Moderna also tested other experimental booster shots that target older variants, including Delta, and found they provided a comparable boost to antibody levels against Omicron as its original vaccine booster shot.

Pfizer and BioNTech said a third dose of their Covid-19 vaccine increased neutralizing antibodies against Omicron compared with just two doses.

Given the speed of Omicron’s spread, Moderna said its near-term priority will be to continue making booster shots of its original vaccine available.

It said it would keep working on an Omicron-specific booster shot, in case it is needed. Moderna expects to start clinical trials of an Omicron-specific booster in early 2022.

The new data on Moderna’s booster and Omicron came from lab tests that mix blood samples from vaccinated people with an engineered virus that resembles the Omicron variant. The tests were conducted at Duke University Medical Center labs that were established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Moderna said.

Write to Peter Loftus at peter.loftus@wsj.com

https://www.wsj.com/articles/moderna-sa ... N#cxrecs_s

[dorankj]

YOU, Alf, you are they. Time to fall down again a claim a threat.

[dorankj]

And they are really never held responsible for their past ‘positions’. They just move on to the next wild accusations and predictions and when you point out their failings they call you names and change the argument/subject. It’s maddening but I guess how certain humans operate.

[woodman]

Funny, that’s always the ONLY answer! Most are reporting that this variant is pretty mild, maybe we should quit listening to people who only ever have one answer. ‘The definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome’ Mark Twain.

Once again before the science is in, the mainstream media does fear mongering that triggers much of the uninformed public, but the natural course of a pathogen is to be less pathogenic. That reminds me of Neil Ferguson from the Royal College of London in Feb. or March of 2020 when he did some early modeling of what he thought we might expect from Covid-19 world-wide. He made some wild doom and gloom predictions that triggered an over reaction world wide, even affecting the Methow valley. I remember the absurd reactions people around here were having in March. People started passing around a petition to get 500 signatures to present to who know who to make it legal to block outsiders from driving into the valley from the west side, and people were even wanting to prevent second home owners from coming to their homes here. I wonder if there might be a nefarious agenda if they are jabbing 5-11 year olds... Total adverse events (VAERS) reported from the jab exceeds the sum of all the reported adverse events from all previous jabs combined over the last 30 years. They shut down the swine flu jab in 1976 after 54 people died from the jab.

[woodman]

This “social contract” game is at the heart of the problem. Every human is constantly battling pathogens throughout life (death is largely the inability to fight off disease anymore). ‘Healthy’ people are all ‘asymptotic’ spreaders as they mainly don’t show what their body is fighting. We have to understand this is part of human life and really for ‘healthy’ people immune system challenges are necessary for overall health. Shaming, mandating and firing healthy people will NOT fix this, protect the vulnerable, stay healthy, live life!

I agree completely. Of course if only the vulnerable received treatment then that may only be 5-10% of the population, and that is not enough for their special interests.. The idea that a completely healthy person with no symptoms is a danger to spread a pathogen is nonsense to me. This is the same drill as in the '80's when otherwise healthy people tested positive on an arbitrary unreliable test, and even though they were completely healthy they were led to believe they were infected, and were convinced to go on anti-retroviral drugs, and there was never any need for treatment being they were perfectly healthy. Now they are emboldened again for Covid... At one point in the US around 1992, the CDC said that a person with a T cell count less than 200 and testing positive was considered to have AIDS, so overnight that new criteria suddenly included many healthy people who were prescribed retroviral medication. In the same time period the low T cell count was not considered to be of concern in Canada, so the same person could be considered to have AIDS in the US, but not in Canada. Apparently a low T cell count is not a reliable marker to determine an immune disease since I have heard there are many people with a low T cell count who are perfectly healthy.

[mister_coffee]

The therapeutics we have that actually work are hundreds to thousands of times more expensive than the vaccines.

If you look at other countries with "low" covid rates, you have to take into account that they often have inadequate public health systems that won't be able to give an accurate number in the first place. Think about how much trouble we had getting sort of adequate testing in place. Then consider how it is possible for Tanzania or Ecuador to do a better job.

And some countries are probably understating their numbers for political reasons.

My own feeling at this point is the expensive fancy therapeutics we have should be used for breakthrough cases amongst the vaccinated first, and then the remaining limited supply should be available to the poor unvaccinated fools on a first-come, first-served basis at their own expense. We shouldn't waste limited and precious resources on people who are too irresponsible to be trusted with them. That is harsh but harsh times often require harsh measures.

If you really believe this pandemic is overblown the above shouldn't bother you at all. If you have made a risk calculation that you don't need to get vaccinated the above shouldn't bother you either.

[dorankj]

That’s not true worldwide, you don’t account for how people may do naturally. It seems that if you are going to have trouble with this vaxed or not you have trouble, if you are going to be ok most do but you don’t know if it’s do to the jab or not. My point that you seem to miss in your vaccine fervor is that natural immunity and therapeutics are completely ignored! If this variant is truly mild as so far reported maybe for healthy and younger people treating symptoms and previous infection will do just fine.

[mister_coffee]

What exactly isn't working?

Both fatalities and hospitalizations are lower in areas with high vaccination rates, even if actual case numbers sometimes are not.

And it is pretty well documented that you are 200 times more likely to die from covid if you are unvaccinated than if you are vaccinated.

So you can't say the vaccines "aren't working."

[dorankj]

Funny, that’s always the ONLY answer! Most are reporting that this variant is pretty mild, maybe we should quit listening to people who only ever have one answer. ‘The definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome’ Mark Twain.

[pasayten]

Pfizer Says Booster Neutralized Omicron but Variant May Elude Two Doses
Two vaccine doses were significantly less effective against variant but could still protect against severe disease, Pfizer and BioNTech say

Wall Street Journal - By Joseph Walker
Updated Dec. 8, 2021 5:37 pm ET

Pfizer Inc. PFE -0.62% and BioNTech SE BNTX -3.55% said that a third dose of their Covid-19 vaccine neutralized the Omicron variant in lab tests but that the two-dose regimen was significantly less effective at blocking the virus.

A third dose increased antibodies 25-fold compared with two doses against the Omicron variant, the companies said. Still, two doses may prove effective in preventing severe illness from Covid-19, they said, because immune cells are able to recognize 80% of parts of the spike protein that the vaccine targets.

The results were issued in a press release by the companies, and weren’t peer reviewed and published in a scientific journal.

The findings from the companies’ early study, and one by scientists in South Africa, suggest that three doses will be needed to produce a similar immune response against Omicron as was provided by just two doses in earlier strains of the virus.

It also bolsters the case for repeated and periodic boosters to maintain people’s immune defenses against an evolving Covid-19, the companies said.

“This is very positive news that should make everyone even more motivated to get vaccinated” and get a booster, said Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten.

The companies’ current vaccine will provide a strong defense against Omicron, especially if people get a booster shot, Dr. Dolsten said. The three-dose regimen, he added, could provide stopgap protection against Omicron through the winter and until a new vaccine targeted directly at the variant would be ready if needed.

Pfizer and BioNTech are working on an Omicron-specific vaccine that they hope to have available by March 2022 if the variant becomes widespread by then. Researchers started working on the new vaccine on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, shortly after Omicron was identified.

The vaccine trains the immune system to fight the virus by generating immune-system soldiers known as antibodies, which attach to the virus and prevent it from replicating in healthy cells. The vaccine also produces other immune-system fighters called T cells that can kick in after infection to help target and clear the virus, preventing more serious disease.

Pfizer and BioNTech said that Omicron still appears susceptible to T cells produced by the vaccine.

Dr. Dolsten estimated there is a greater than 50% chance that Omicron becomes the dominant strain spreading in the U.S. by the spring, though it is too soon to know with certainty, he said.


The preliminary lab data comes from an analysis of blood samples from vaccinated patients measuring antibodies capable of neutralizing the virus causing Covid-19, including the Omicron variant. Blood samples were collected three weeks after patients received their second dose, or one month after receiving their third dose.

The number of antibodies generated by a third booster shot against Omicron is similar to two doses against an older strain of the virus, the companies said.

“These preliminary data appear to show the Pfizer vaccine does in fact protect against Omicron, and that’s very good news,” said Philip Landrigan, director of Boston College’s Global Public Health and the Global Common Good program.


Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said the results suggested two doses will protect many people from getting bad cases leading to hospitalization or death.

“Two doses are still effective against severe disease, whether people get boosters or not,” said Dr. Gandhi, who is recommending boosters for high-risk patients, including those with HIV. “For people who are at high risk of severe disease, it’s so important to get them boosted, but I don’t think it’s mandatory for young healthy people.”

The company’s early findings come a day after scientists in South Africa reported findings from early lab tests indicating a 41-fold reduction in the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine’s neutralization of Omicron than the original version of the virus.


The researchers, however, found greater antibody responses against Omicron in blood taken from subjects who were fully vaccinated and had previously been infected with Covid-19.

The companies will continue to work on a variant vaccine despite the promising signs that boosting with the original shot offers good protection against Omicron, said BioNTech Chief Executive Uğur Şahin. That is because they would need to see more data on how their vaccine holds up against the new variant, including real-world effectiveness data, expected in the coming weeks.


“Only in combination will we understand the relevance of this data and potential protection against Omicron-mediated disease and severe disease,” he said.

Real-world data on vaccine effectiveness against Omicron won’t be available for at least six weeks, Dr. Şahin said, because the case numbers need to be higher before this can be measured.

Meanwhile, the companies are moving forward with manufacturing an Omicron-specific vaccine. The first doses, for experimental use, will be ready in January, BioNTech executives said.

Omicron was first identified by scientists in South Africa last month. Since then the World Health Organization has deemed it a variant of concern. And it has since been detected around the world, including in the U.S.

Researchers have been trying to understand how contagious the new strain is, as well as how well it might be able to evade Covid-19 vaccines and whether it causes severe disease. Some preliminary reports suggest the variant is more contagious but might cause milder disease, though researchers say it is too early to know.

Pfizer and BioNTech said they expect to make four billion vaccine doses next year, even if an Omicron-specific vaccine is required by then.

Dr. Dolsten said that regardless of how widespread Omicron becomes, continued booster shots will likely be needed going forward to provide protection against Covid-19. A fourth booster dose is likely to be needed in the spring or fall of 2022, he said.

“It’s increasingly clear you need to have a long-term perspective, with continued boosting to have strong durable immunity,” said Dr. Dolsten. “If the landscape looks similar to today, we will likely continue to boost with the current vaccine.”

Pfizer’s shares rose 1% while BioNTech’s American depositary shares fell 0.2% in morning trading.

—Denise Roland contributed to this article.

[mister_coffee]

Sounds like a third dose of Pfizer (or by reasonable deduction Moderna) provides good protection against Omicron.

https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-relea ... on-variant

Note the above is a press release, not a preprint and certainly not peer-reviewed. Again, it is early days and we have much to learn.

[pasayten]

The problem Brad, is that the "group think" crowd is considering actual science and data as opposed to your alternative fake science and news.

Your offsite links do not pass the "sniff" test of reality...

But this BB will still let you have and publish your own opinions...

[woodman]

you are going with the hoax notion?
there is no such thing as the variant?
or
no such thing as a virus?
i have never seen a virus with my own eye balls, so you may well be right.
one has to believe in microscopes, and the images that appear in instruments.
other people have suggested that there is no such thing as anything!

it is just a simulation, and there is no such thing as matter.
does this prove that trump won the election?

ps.... did i use curse words or attack your personality as inherently bad?
o do not think that .
i think that you are the worlds worst researcher, or close to it.

My studies led me in a different direction. I prefer to think that I didn't get stuck in the weeds 23 months ago, so I was able to think freely doing my own independent research. We are in an information war. I like to think it is about sharing information without being condescending in ones attitude, or without using intimidation, or group think.

https://www.rosemaryfrei.ca/hiv-now-set ... vaxx-race/

[woodman]

brad, you really seem to understand the evolution of virus's.
must be all that you tube.

I'm looking forward to seeing the scientific evidence for the latest variant. Not one scientific paper has been produced to prove it's existence. It should show up on Pub Med any day now... Be sure and share when you find the scientific evidence not to mention the evidence of an isolate of the original Covid-19 variant. Those computer renderings of the "virus" certainly do fire the imaginations of the masses, don't they? Some of us know you like sci-fi. fantasies.

While you're at it, show us the study that proves that HIV is the cause of AIDS. I believe there is a $1 million reward for anybody to produce a study proving a causal relationship. One doesn't exist!

We may as well make the best of this long winter, and also steer clear of Ad Hominem attacks, and stick to our ideas to inform people so that people will be able to make up their own minds after being informed as best as possible.

[woodman]

The "discovery" of the so-called omicron variant is simply a manipulation and a re-interpretation of the PCR test. This is resembling a tragic comedy according to Dr. Andrew Kaufman. https://brandnewtube.com/watch/dr-andre ... dPpMV.html

[pasayten]

Omicron's 'wacko' combination of mutations has scientists split over whether it developed in humans or animals

Business Insider - Aria Bendix , Marianne Guenot , and Hilary Brueck 22 hours ago

The Omicron variant has a strange set of mutations. It doesn't resemble Delta, the dominant strain.
That has led scientists to wonder about its origin — namely, whether it came from humans or animals.
One of the most promising theories suggests Omicron emerged in an immunocompromised person.

Omicron looks odd, even to scientists who study coronavirus strains.

The variant has spread to nearly 30 countries since it was first detected in Botswana roughly three weeks ago. Scientists are trying to make sense of its concerning number of mutations, which could make Omicron more transmissible than Delta, rendering vaccines less effective, or leading to more severe disease. For now, those answers are pending.

Omicron doesn't resemble common coronavirus variants like Alpha or Delta (still the world's dominant strain), and many of its strange mutations haven't been spotted in other variants before. Scientists estimate that Omicron's closest ancestors date back to mid-2020.

"It's not the son or daughter of Delta," Andrew Read, who studies the evolution of infectious diseases at Pennsylvania State University, told Insider. "It branched off earlier from the human lineages, so it has been somewhere for awhile. So where's that reservoir? Was it an individual person or an individual animal or a population of animals or population of people that haven't been properly sampled?"


Scientists are debating the answer.

One of the most promising theories is that Omicron emerged in an immunocompromised host, such as a person with an untreated HIV infection. People with weakened immune systems are common reservoirs for mutations, since their bodies often struggle to clear viruses, allowing the pathogen to replicate for months.

The theory may explain why Omicron contains "such a wacko combination of mutations," Charity Dean, a former official at the California Department of Public Health, told Insider.

"It's probably more likely that this was the result of ongoing molecular evolution inside a single host that spilled over into the population," she said.


But some scientists aren't ready to rule out the idea that Omicron developed in an animal species. Robert Garry, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Tulane Medical School, noted to STAT News this week that Omicron carries several key mutations that could have helped the coronavirus infect rodents.

"It could be that the virus moved into a wild animal population and then we didn't see it for a while and it came back — that's not a crazy hypothesis," Martin Hibberd, professor of emerging infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told Insider. "But we don't have as much evidence of that."

Other coronavirus variants likely evolved in immunocompromised people

Omicron contains 50 mutations in total, more than two dozen of which are brand new. To develop that many mutations, scientists say, the virus needs plenty of opportunities to replicate — a sign that Omicron likely evolved in an immunocompromised host.

"We don't know at the moment to any great detail how long infections can persist in individual animals of any sort, whereas we do know that immunocompromised humans can have chronic infections," Read said.

A 2020 case study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the coronavirus persisted for five months in a 45-year-old man with antiphospholipid syndrome, an immune disorder. During that time, it developed key mutations found in other variants of concern like Delta, Alpha, and Gamma.

Researchers also suspect that the Alpha variant developed in an immunocompromised person.

Omicron "reminds me a little bit of how the Alpha variant arose in the UK," Hibberd said. "That's why people have thought about this as perhaps originating in a single patient."

The animal theory could explain the variant's early origin

Still, scientists say it's theoretically possible for the coronavirus to chronically infect animals. Outbreaks in white-tailed deer last winter and Dutch mink farms in June 2020 may be evidence of that — though Hibberd and others remain skeptical.


"I don't see why the virus would have an easier time in an animal than in a human," Hibberd said. "We did see that in Europe a little bit with the mink infection and we were worried about those variants that got passed through the mink outbreak, but in the end they didn't prove to be any more advantageous than the current strains."

The animal theory, however, may help explain why scientists detected the first Omicron case on November 9, when the variant's lineage dates back to last year. Had Omicron been lurking in animals, it would have been particularly difficult to spot.

"The surveillance in humans has only recently ramped up to something that we're not embarrassed about," Read said. "The surveillance in animals is an awful long way away."

It's probably too late to find 'patient zero'

Scientists may never know Omicron's origin.


"If we actually found the Omicron variant in a wildlife population, that would obviously be a smoking gun," Read said. But, he added that the variant's continued spread increases the odds that it will spill over to animal species eventually, if it hasn't already. That means there's a narrow window to see if animals were indeed the original hosts.

Hibberd expressed reservation about scientists doing too much sampling for the variant in wild animals, since our interactions with them increase the odds of new pathogens emerging.

"I don't want people going around chasing bats, for example, because we might cause more trouble than where we're trying to fix," he said.

Even finding an original human host for the variant would be difficult.


"If we found an immunocompromised human with Omicron now, we wouldn't know whether that was patient zero," Read said.

So scientists are left to wager their best guesses amid a dearth of information.

"My money's on the immunocompromised person, but not a lot of money," Read said.

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-did ... ns-2021-12

[mister_coffee]

Research out of South Africa shows that reinfection is "significantly more likely" from Omicron.

We don't know what that means for those of us who are vaccinated, but it is unlikely to be good news. Also, we still don't know (and probably won't know for quite some time) if being vaccinated protects against severe disease if you are infected with Omicron.

[pasayten]

Omicron COVID-19 variant discovered in three counties across Washington
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Health (DOH), in partnership with the UW Medicine Virology Lab, has confirmed a total of three cases of omicron variant found in Thurston County, Pierce County, and King County. The patients range in age from 20 to 39, two men, one woman.

The patients are:

a man in his thirties from Thurston County,
a man in his twenties from Pierce County, and
a woman in her twenties from King County.
Confirmation came in midday Saturday, and patients are still being informed. Details about their conditions are unknown to DOH. Samples were collected between Nov. 29 and Dec. 1 and confirmed at an in-state lab.

This is early in the investigation, DOH does not believe the cases are related, but the travel history of the patients is unknown.

Little is known clinically about the omicron variant at this time. Researchers are working to learn more about it, but it was found here quickly thanks to increased surveillance efforts; lab specialists have been looking for omicron through PCR testing and genomic sequencing. The state also increased its lab capacity to detect genetic markers associated with new and existing variants.

Sequencing has been prioritized for anyone with travel history or close contact with a confirmed case. Case investigation and contact tracing among those at higher risk for contracting and spreading omicron has been prioritized. Travelers who have been to a country or state with omicron, or anyone identified as a close contact, receives that prioritization.

“We knew that it was a matter of time before omicron was sequenced in our state and so we were anticipating this very news,” said Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, Secretary of Health. “We strongly urge people to get vaccinated and get their boosters as soon as possible to maximize their level of protection from any variant.”

The best protection from this variant and others comes from getting vaccinated and getting boosters as soon as possible. This is especially important for children and adults with chronic conditions that place them at higher risk for severe disease from COVID-19.

“Even with a highly mutated virus like omicron, we are not going back to square one of the pandemic,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer, Public Health – Seattle & King County. “Omicron may pose new challenges that we will need to respond to, but compared to the early days of the pandemic, we know much more about COVID-19, and we’re better prepared for it. We know layered protections work together to maximally reduce risk, and that will continue to be the case for delta and for omicron if that becomes a dominant strain circulating in our community."

"If there is room for improvement in how we are using our current tools and strategies, this is a good time to make those improvements, especially vaccination and booster doses when eligible, good-quality masks indoors, improving indoor air quality and avoiding crowded indoor spaces along with other COVID-19 prevention measures," Duchin said.

“We suspected that the omicron variant was circulating in our region, and now our laboratory has confirmed the first three cases in Washington state by viral genome sequencing in the last 24 hours. Throughout the pandemic, it's been a huge team effort by the UW Medicine Virology Laboratory, requiring development and implementation of several diagnostic and sequencing assays to detect and confirm the variety of COVID-19 variants that have surfaced in Washington state,” said Dr. Geoffrey Baird, chair of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at UW Medicine. To date, the laboratory has tested approximately 3.8 million COVID-19 samples.

[pasayten]

Omicron possibly more infectious because it shares genetic code with common cold coronavirus, study says

Washington Post
By Amy Cheng
Today at 3:22 a.m. EST



The omicron variant is likely to have picked up genetic material from another virus that causes the common cold in humans, according to a new preliminary study, prompting one of its authors to suggest omicron could have greater transmissibility but lower virulence than other variants of the novel coronavirus.

Researchers from Nference, a Cambridge, Mass.-based firm that analyzes biomedical information, sequenced omicron and found a snippet of genetic code that is also present in a virus that can bring about a cold. They say this particular mutation could have occurred in a host simultaneously infected by SARS-CoV-2, also known as the novel coronavirus, and the HCoV-229E coronavirus, which can cause the common cold. The shared genetic code with HCoV-229E has not been detected in other novel coronavirus variants, the scientists said.

The study is in preprint and has not been peer-reviewed.


The “striking” similarity between omicron and HCoV-229E could have made the former “more accustomed to human hosts” and likely to evade some immune system responses, said Venky Soundararajan, a biological engineer who co-wrote the study.

“By virtue of omicron adopting this insertion … it is essentially taking a leaf out of the seasonal coronaviruses’ page, which [explains] … how it lives and transmits more efficiently with human beings," he said.

Researchers have established that SARS-CoV-2, which is responsible for the covid-19 disease, can infect patients who are also afflicted by other coronaviruses. Cells in lungs and gastrointestinal systems could host both types of viruses, said Soundararajan, possibly leading to an exchange in genetic material.


While much remains unknown about omicron, health experts are worried that its many mutations could make it far more transmissible than variants such as delta. In South Africa, the country’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases said Wednesday that omicron overtook other virus variants in November, accounting for 74 percent of the genomes sequenced last month.



Delta had previously been dominant in that country, where daily infection numbers have roughly quadrupled in the last four days. Anthony S. Fauci, the top U.S. infectious-diseases expert, told Bloomberg TV Friday that it was “comforting but not definitive” that the rapid increase in South Africa’s caseload has not yet been followed by a comparable surge in hospitalizations, adding that there could be a time lag.

Nference researchers last year sequenced the novel coronavirus and found that part of its genetic code “mimics” a protein that helps regulate salt and fluid balance in the human body. That development aided efforts to design drugs that combat viral transmission.


As a virus evolves to become more transmissible, it generally “loses” traits that are likely to cause severe symptoms, Soundararajan said. But he noted that much more data and analysis of omicron was needed before a definitive determination could be made, adding that unequal distribution of vaccines globally could lead to further mutations of the coronavirus.

As Fauci warned Friday that there was “absolutely … community spread” in America, President Biden said the United States must support global efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus, especially as new variants emerge, “in order to beat covid” at home.

“Look what’s happened ... We’re starting to make some real progress, and you find out there’s another strain,” Biden added, noting that his administration had shipped millions of vaccines worldwide to people in need.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2 ... d-variant/

[Rideback]

Omicron has arrived in the US, by tonight there will likely be more than a dozen cases.

As far as the 'social contract' is concerned, it is the premise by which most countries used to develop their governments.

From NYU: 'It's Time to Go Back To Basics of Governance' July '21 by Nanjala Nyabola

'What is the Social Contract?
Social contract theory refers to the tacit agreement between citizens to cooperate to ensure collective security and
welfare, and that authorities need to provide protection and services to citizens, in exchange for citizens consent to
be governed. Individuals cede some of their personal freedoms to the government in exchange for protection from
some of the physical and structural violence of life outside of society. At the same time, those who govern accept
limitations on the exercise of arbitrary power. The social contract has been used for many purposes historically, in
the sphere of public policy to justify taxes, citizen security, protection, and the provision of public goods;
politically to challenge poor governance; as an underpinning of theories of justice; as the basis for the welfare state
and the extension of social protections.

[pasayten]

Covid-19 Antibody Drugs Are Challenged by Omicron, Preliminary Testing Indicates
Regeneron said its antibody drug cocktail was found to lose effectiveness against the new variant

Joseph Walker at joseph.walker@wsj.com


Preliminary tests indicate the Covid-19 antibody drug cocktail from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. loses effectiveness against Omicron, the company said Tuesday, a sign that some products in an important class of therapies might need modifying if the new strain becomes widespread.

Separate testing of another authorized Covid-19 antibody drug cocktail, from Eli Lilly & Co., indicates it also isn’t as effective against Omicron, outside scientists said. Lilly said it is testing the new variant against its antibody treatment and wouldn’t speculate on what the results will be.

The findings are the early results of researchers’ race to assess the impact of the new Omicron variant on Covid-19 treatments that patients, doctors and hospitals have been relying on, as well as pills in development that have promised to keep people out of the hospital.

Researchers say some antibody therapies are likely to be especially vulnerable to Omicron because it contains mutations to the spike protein that the Regeneron and Lilly drugs target, while other drugs should hold up well because they attack elements of the virus unchanged in the variant.

Monoclonal antibodies are lab-made molecules derived from survivors of Covid-19 or mice engineered to have human immune systems. When given soon after infection, the drugs attach to the surface of the coronavirus and prevent it from replicating itself in new cells.

They are the only drugs authorized to treat patients, before they require hospitalization, who are at high risk of developing severe cases.

The drugs differ from vaccines, which train the immune system how to defend against the virus, including with the production of antibodies. Last year, former President Donald Trump credited Regeneron’s drug with his speedy recovery from Covid-19.

Regeneron said it would be able to quantify the impact of the variant in coming weeks, after further testing is done.

If final testing shows that its antibody drugs are less effective against Omicron, Regeneron has developed alternative antibodies that it can push into clinical testing and that it thinks will retain effectiveness against the variant, said George Yancopoulos, the company’s president and chief scientific officer.

One of Regeneron’s alternative antibodies is already in clinical testing, which the company began in anticipation of new variants emerging over time.

The Omicron variant was identified last week by scientists in South Africa, prompting drug researchers to scramble to see if the relatively small medicine chest of Covid-19 treatments would still work against the new strain if it ends up spreading widely.

“What we have to admit is, in the course of the past six days, our urgency has increased,” Dr. Yancopoulos said in an interview. “What started out as a backup plan has now been made a lot more urgent.”

Scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle found that individual mutations from Omicron reduced or eliminated the ability of Regeneron’s and Lilly’s drugs to attach to the virus, said Allie Greaney, a Ph.D. candidate at the center and the University of Washington in Seattle.

More comprehensive tests of the drugs against the entire variant are needed to fully understand the impact, she said. “I’m not certain what the exact magnitude of effect would be, but probably less effective,” said Ms. Greaney.

Lilly is in the process of testing the new variant against its drug, a combination of two antibodies called bamlanivimab and etesevimab, said Nicole Kallewaard, a Lilly virologist and research adviser.


She declined to comment on the results showing reduced effectiveness against individual Omicron mutations, because the results may differ when all of the mutations are combined.

“I think that we need to wait for confirmation of the whole virus,” said Dr. Kallewaard. “Hopefully, the data will come in the next few weeks.”

A rise in the prevalence of Omicron could present an opportunity for competitors who say their drugs don’t appear in preliminary testing to be affected by the variant, including Vir Biotechnology Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC, whose drug sotrovimab was authorized for emergency use earlier this year.

Fred Hutchinson researchers also said their initial testing indicated the Vir-GSK antibody drug retained its effectiveness.

Adagio Therapeutics Inc., a biotech with a Covid-19 antibody drug in clinical trials, said its antibody also appears to be unaffected by the new variant.

Vir, Glaxo and Adagio said they are conducting further tests to confirm that their drugs aren’t affected by Omicron.

Omicron poses a threat to lab-made antibody drugs as well as antibodies generated by vaccines, because the new variant has mutations on the spike protein part of the virus where antibodies are known to frequently attach themselves, scientists say.

Vir and Adagio officials said the companies designed their antibodies with the aim of targeting spots on the virus that are common across different coronaviruses that remained stable even after numerous mutations over many years.

“They bind to a region of the virus that through decades of evolution has not changed a lot,” Adagio Chief Executive Tillman Gerngross said in an interview. “Those conserved areas make the virus much more vulnerable” to antibodies.

It will take at least two weeks to create a version of the full Omicron virus variant and test antibody drugs against it, company officials said. Still, scientists say they are concerned by what they know already about the variant’s ability to evade antibodies produced by vaccines, prior infection or from drug treatment.

“Omicron hasn’t become the next Delta,” Vir Chief Scientific Officer Skip Virgin said in an interview. But “we think the extent of the mutations, the number of them, means that the world needs to take Omicron very seriously.”

Antiviral drugs, including pills from Merck & Co. and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP and from Pfizer Inc. that are being evaluated for authorization, appear to be unaffected by the variant because they target a different site on the virus, said Michel Nussenzweig, an immunologist at Rockefeller University.


Doctors and patients have been looking forward to authorization of the pills, which in clinical trials have reduced the risk of hospitalization if taken early enough.

“The targets of the pills appear to be under less pressure and may be OK, but this too needs to be tested,” said Dr. Nussenzweig.

Pfizer and Merck said they expect their drugs to be effective against Omicron.

Gilead Sciences Inc. also said it expects Veklury, its antiviral drug used to treat hospitalized patients, to retain effectiveness against Omicron as it has against other variants of concern.

—Jared S. Hopkins and Betsy McKay contributed to this article.

Write to Joseph Walker at joseph.walker@wsj.com

[pasayten]

CDC Says Everyone 18 and Older Should Get Covid-19 Booster Due to Omicron Variant

By Brianna Abbott - Wall Street Journal
Updated Nov. 29, 2021 5:12 pm ET

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strengthened its Covid-19 booster-shot recommendations, reflecting the potential threat the new Omicron variant poses to the pandemic response in the U.S. and world-wide.

The CDC on Monday recommended that everyone 18 and older get an additional shot after completing a first course of Covid-19 vaccination. The agency earlier this month encouraged boosters only for those 50 and above, adding that people ages 18 and above could get an additional dose.

“The recent emergence of the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) further emphasizes the importance of vaccination, boosters and prevention efforts needed to protect against Covid-19,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. She urged unvaccinated people who are eligible for Covid-19 shots to get them.

Omicron, identified last week by scientists in South Africa, has rattled officials in the U.S. and around the world, as researchers race to understand the changed pathogen. The World Health Organization warned the variant has a high potential to spread globally and could drive fresh surges in Covid-19 infections.

Spread of the variant risks intensifying supply-chain disruptions that have fueled a surprising surge in inflation this year, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in testimony released Monday afternoon, ahead of an appearance before Congress Tuesday morning.

President Biden said Monday that his administration was working with Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and Johnson & Johnson on plans for vaccines or boosters in case they are needed to combat the Omicron variant. Mr. Biden said that as of now officials don’t think such measures will be needed.

He also said he would soon release more details on how his administration plans to handle Covid-19 this winter, including a focus on more vaccinations, boosters and testing rather than lockdowns.

“This variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic,” he said.

The stock prices of several vaccine makers have risen in recent days on the prospect of new demand for booster shots.

Officials in New York City on Monday again tightened guidance on wearing masks, strongly recommending that people wear face coverings indoors, regardless of their vaccination status. People are already required to wear masks on buses and subways in the nation’s largest city. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the broader advisory wasn’t yet a mandate.

“We still need more data to determine that is the right way to go,” Mr. de Blasio said at a news conference. “We want to focus on vaccination.”


Mr. Biden urged people to continue to wear masks in indoor public settings, but he didn’t ask state and local officials to reinstate mask mandates where they have been lifted in the U.S.

The U.S. has joined other nations in imposing restrictions on some travelers from southern Africa to slow the variant’s spread, even as officials acknowledged it is likely already in the U.S. Mr. Biden said he didn’t believe travel restrictions were necessary for people arriving in the U.S. from beyond southern Africa.

Some countries in Asia imposed broader restrictions on foreign students or visitors. A growing list of countries including Canada, the U.K., Israel and Australia have confirmed cases of the Omicron variant.

Much remains unknown about the Omicron variant, including its relative infectiousness, severity or to what degree it might evade the immune response from prior infection or vaccination. Early evidence suggests Omicron might present an increased risk of re-infection, compared with other versions of the virus, according to the WHO, but the agency also cautioned that information is limited and more will be known in the coming weeks.


“It seems to be highly transmissible just from the very early data,” said Pia MacDonald, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at RTI International, a research institute in North Carolina. “But again, we’re going to have to see more data.”

Officials in South Africa said the rise of the variant has been accompanied by an increase in hospitalizations. Doctors and officials said that it is too early and that the number of patients has been too small to determine whether Omicron causes more or less severe disease than other variants.


The U.S. hasn’t flagged an Omicron case. The U.S. has invested more in genetic surveillance of Covid-19 variants during the past year, but the amount of sequencing done still varies by state and community.



Health officials and researchers published sequences from more than 80,000 case samples in the week ending Nov. 20, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up from less than 40,000 a week in April and May of this year. Overall, though, the U.S. has sequenced samples from about 1% of known cases, according to Johns Hopkins University, and lags behind countries such as the U.K. that are monitoring the virus more comprehensively.

Scientists do have some advantage in tracking Omicron over other variants, including Delta, which drove a surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths across the country this summer and fall. A change in the virus’s genome causes a flaw in a commonly used PCR test that gives researchers a quick way to flag a potential Omicron-linked case.


Other variants have emerged and then faded when they were unable to compete with the dominant variant at the time. As of Nov. 20, more than 99.9% of sequenced cases in the U.S. were linked to the Delta variant.

Covid-19 cases in the U.S. have been ticking upward since late October to an average of more than 90,000 a day in late November. Hospital admissions have inched upward as well. Data show a drop in cases over the past few days; there is often a reporting lag around holidays that is typically followed by a bump in new case numbers.

Federal officials are dispatching medical teams to Michigan to help fight a rise in Covid-19 hospitalizations there and help relieve doctors and nurses, the state’s health department said last week.

Infectious-disease and public-health experts anticipate some rise in cases and hospitalizations this winter as people gather indoors for the holidays and to escape colder weather. Most don’t expect a surge as deadly as last winter’s. They say basic mitigation measures like masking, testing and staying home when sick remain critical.


“With the threat of the Omicron variant, it becomes even more important,” Dr. MacDonald said.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-watche ... _lead_pos1

[Fun CH]

Keep in mind that it isn't surprising that nearly all of the cases we are hearing of are in vaccinated individuals. It is basically impossible at this time to travel internationally without a covid vaccination, so it stands to reason that all of the cases in that population would be in vaccinated folks.

hmm. the most recent CDC guideline states testing is required, including for unvaccinated.

"Required Testing before Air Travel to the US
Required for all air passengers two years of age or older boarding a flight from a foreign country to the United States

Updated Nov. 24, 2021
What You Need to Know
If you plan to travel internationally, you will need to get a COVID-19 viral test (regardless of vaccination status) before you travel by air into the United States. You must show your negative result to the airline before you board your flight.
Fully vaccinated: The viral test must be conducted on a sample taken no more than 3 days before the flight’s departure from a foreign country if you show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Not fully vaccinated: The viral test must be conducted on a sample taken no more than 1 day before the flight’s departure from a foreign country if you do not show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19."

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc ... elers.html

David, было бы полезно, если бы вы предоставили источник информации, которую вы публикуете

[Fun CH]

Right now we are in the "don't really know" phase of things, and shouldn't leap to any conclusions one way or the other.

Keep in mind that it isn't surprising that nearly all of the cases we are hearing of are in vaccinated individuals. It is basically impossible at this time to travel internationally without a covid vaccination, so it stands to reason that all of the cases in that population would be in vaccinated folks. That doesn't tell us anything about how well this new variant might evade vaccination.

Dr. Gottlief wasn't drawing any conclusions but making it clear that more data is needed. But experts looking at the Omicron gene sequence are expecting that a fully vaccinated person with booster will have some protection.

Maybe he's trying to stop a panic or offering hope.

Some skeptics most likely will interpret his statement as a Pfizer board member just trying to sell boosters.

What is your source for stating
"that nearly all of the cases we are hearing of are in vaccinated individuals"?

[PAL]

Excellent points David. For those jumping on the bandwagon saying the vaccine doesn't work must understand what you are saying. Yes, only vaccinated are allowed to fly, so stands to reason and there are always break through cases with a vaccine.
My family Dr. said they are extremely happy that the flu vaccine is 60 percent effective. This is only an example. Covid is not the same as the flu.