Scientists are working to discover why the omicron variant is as transmissible as it is, just over a month after it was first discovered in South Africa. Now, they say it is spreading as the original strain did at the start of the pandemic.
The first piece of evidence that the new variant was highly transmissible came from a Christmas party in Oslo, Norway, where 70% of the party-goers were infected despite most of them being vaccinated.
The scientists who traced the event classified it as a superspreader and concluded it was the first evidence pmicron was "highly transmissible" among fully vaccinated adults.
Now after the variant has rapidly spread throughout most of the world, scientists know this was not an isolated example of how it behaves.
According to reports, omicron has outcompeted Delta with one case of omicron sparking at least three other new infections on average, NPR reported.
Scientists are working to understand why the variant is as contagious as it is and if guidelines on how to stay safe need to be revamped.
Related
When it comes to protection, experts still say that getting vaccinated is vital to stop severe infection and death from the strain of COVID-19, even with its ability to avoid immunity.
Omicron can avoid protection from previous infection of vaccination, causing the rapid spike in cases equal to that of the original strain at the pandemic's start.
However, scientists say some level of antibody protection is still better than none and will protect from severe illness and death.
The new strain is becoming the dominant variant of the virus, and a new study from Denmark backs that point up, saying its dominance comes from its ability to evade the body's immune defenses.
Researchers concluded that omicron is about 2.7 to 3.7 times more infectious than the Delta variant among vaccinated and boosted individuals.
Related
However, the study also found no significant differences in rates of infection between omicron and Delta in those who are unvaccinated.
So when looking at which one can spread more, omicron is more transmissible among the vaccinated, but it has the same level of transmissibility among the unvaccinated when compared to Delta.
Either way, the strain has caused a massive increase in cases, but experts have suggested that looking solely at case counts is not the best way to understand the variant.
Dr. Fauci spoke on Sunday, saying that the best way to understand the new variant is by looking at hospitalizations and deaths, not solely new case counts.
