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MANILA, Philippines鈥擩ust as the Philippines started to relax restrictions as COVID cases declined, scientists in South Africa announced the discovery of yet another variant of concern鈥擮micron.

The B.1.1.529 variant鈥攃onsidered as a COVID strain鈥攚as first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by South Africa on Nov. 24. It was first designated as a variant under monitoring (VUM).

On Nov. 26, following the advice of WHO鈥檚 Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE), the variant B.1.1.529 was designated as a variant of concern (VOC) and was named after Omicron, the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet.

The new variant, so far, has been detected in several countries and territories worldwide聽including South Africa, Botswana, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The list, however, is changing as more countries are reporting Omicron cases.

In this article,聽聽will list what scientists and medical experts know so far about the new variant and how we can protect ourselves against COVID in general.

What makes it different?

Omicron was described by WHO as a 鈥渉ighly divergent variant鈥� with a large number of mutations, 鈥渟ome of which are concerning.鈥� Among all variants of SARS Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, Omicron was found to have the most mutations.

According to Tulio de Oliveira, virologist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa鈥檚 (NGS-SA), the variant contains around 50 mutations.

WHO noted 26 to 32 mutations found in the variant鈥檚 spike protein鈥攖he crowns dotting the virus and the part that the virus uses to infect human cells.

In an update on Nov. 30, WHO said mutations in Omicron鈥檚 spike protein 鈥渕ay enhance its transmissibility and/or enable some degree of immune escape.鈥�

Dr. Rontgene Solante, chief of the Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine unit of the Philippines鈥� San Lazaro Hospital, echoed the WHO findings.

鈥淭hese are all possibilities because this is the first time we have seen a variant of concern wherein we have鈥攖o be exact鈥�32 mutations in the spike protein,鈥� Solante said in an interview over ANC. 鈥淭hese 32 mutations are really significant that it can be highly transmissible and can also affect our vaccines,鈥� Solante said.

READ: Disease expert: Omicron variant may behave like Delta

Professor Mosa Moshabela, deputy vice-chancellor of Research and Innovation at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, explained that some of the mutations were already seen before in the Delta and Beta variants.

According to a report by The New York Times, the Omicron variant contains a combination of mutations including D614G, N501Y, and K417N which were found in other variants and might make the virus more infectious. D614G drew the most attention because it allowed the virus to be more efficient in infecting cells.

However, there are many other mutations in the new variant that are new.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 know what the combination of those mutations will translate into,鈥� Moshabela said.

Still, Solante said most variants eventually 鈥渕utate to be weaker.鈥�

鈥淢ost of the variants mutate to be weaker as the pandemic goes on. As the virus stays in our body, they become weaker,鈥� said Solante.

鈥淏ut there are vulnerable populations [where] this virus can stay longer, and I think this mutation was driven in a patient who is immunocompromised,鈥� he said.

鈥淚t stays longer in the body and since it will adapt to survive in that particular body wherein the immune response is so weak, then that鈥檚 where the mutation comes in,鈥� he added.

READ: Disease expert: Omicron variant may behave like Delta

Mutations, according to Dr. Stuart Ray, vice chair of medicine for data integrity and analytics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the US, are normal and not new in RNA viruses like SARS-CoV-2.

鈥淎ll RNA viruses mutate over time, some more than others,鈥� said Dr. Robert Bollinger, professor of infectious diseases at John Hopkins. 鈥淔or example, flu viruses change often, which is why doctors recommend that you get a new flu vaccine every year,鈥� he said.

READ: Kappa: The continuing mutation of the COVID virus

Transmissibility and severity

WHO said in a statement that 鈥渢here is preliminary evidence suggesting that Omicron may have potential immune escape and/or possibly higher transmissibility, as compared to previous VOCs, that could lead to further surges.鈥�

鈥淎s a result of this, the overall global risk related to the new VOC Omicron in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is very high.鈥�

Some experts said the Omicron variant might be more dominant than the highly-transmissible Delta variant.

鈥淏ased on the epidemiology data, it seems like the new variant has advantages in transmitting over the previous variants,鈥� virologist Pei-Yong Shi, of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, said in an article published by NPR鈥攁n independent, nonprofit media organization.

鈥淲e thought what will outcompete Delta? That has always been the question, in terms of transmissibility at least,鈥� Adrian Puren, acting executive director of South Africa鈥檚 National Institute for Communicable Diseases, told Reuters.

READ: Omicron variant could outcompete Delta, South African disease expert says

A side-by-side visual model of the structural context on mutations and associated variants of Omicron and Delta was published by the COG-UK Mutation Explorer (COG-UK/ME) online to show the difference in mutation between the two variants.

See more

Do you want to see omicron spike mutations? Have a look at this beautiful image from now available on our dashboard

鈥� COG-UK Mutation Explorer (@COGUK_ME)

鈥淓veryone is afraid that Omicron will be significantly more transmissible than Delta. Upon first impression, it looks like it could be,鈥� said Dr. Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, in the same NPR article.

鈥淏ut that could be totally wrong. Right now, nobody knows. The problem is that our data is very limited,鈥� he added.

WHO clarified that it is still not yet certain whether Omicron is more contagious than other variants, including Delta.

It added that the results of preliminary evidence on the transmissibility of Omicron 鈥渃ontains considerable uncertainty and will be updated as more information becomes available.鈥�

鈥淭he number of people testing positive has risen in areas of South Africa affected by this variant, but epidemiological studies are underway to understand if it is because of Omicron or other factors.鈥�

The WHO added that it is also not clear whether infection with Omicron causes a more severe disease compared to infections with other variants.

鈥淧reliminary data suggests that there are increasing rates of hospitalization in South Africa, but this may be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected, rather than a result of specific infection with Omicron,鈥� said WHO.

鈥淭here is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants,鈥� it continued.

鈥淚nitial reported infections were among university students鈥攜ounger individuals who tend to have more mild disease鈥攂ut understanding the level of severity of the Omicron variant will take days to several weeks.鈥�

All variants of COVID-19, WHO explained, can cause severe cases or deaths, most especially among vulnerable people.

Other concerns

WHO also addressed other concerns about the Omicron variant, including the rate of reinfection among people who have previously had COVID-19.

The UN agency said people who have previously contracted the disease could become reinfected more easily with Omicron than other variants.

However, evidence and information supporting聽this claim are still limited.

鈥淢ore information on this will become available in the coming days and weeks,鈥� WHO said.

WHO also said it is working with technical partners to understand the potential impact of the new variant on the effectiveness of currently available COVID vaccines.

鈥淰accines remain critical to reducing severe disease and death, including against the dominant circulating variant, Delta. Current vaccines remain effective against severe disease and death,鈥� 聽WHO said.

However, Moderna CEO St茅phane Bancel said current COVID vaccines might be less effective against Omicron.

鈥淭here is no world, I think, where (the effectiveness) is the same level we had with Delta,鈥� Bancel said.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to be a material drop. I just don鈥檛 know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I鈥檝e talked to鈥� are like 鈥榯his is not going to be good鈥�,鈥� Moderna鈥檚 CEO added.

READ: Moderna CEO says vaccines likely less effective against Omicron鈥揊T

Omicron symptoms?

In an interview with British Broadcasting Corp., Dr. Angelique Coetzee鈥攖he South African doctor who first detected Omicron鈥攕aid some of the symptoms linked with the new variant were 鈥渆xtremely mild.鈥�

Coetzee, who is also chair of the South African Medical Association, explained that patients who got infected with Omicron since Nov. 18 manifested 鈥渦nusual symptoms鈥� which were slightly different from the Delta variant.

鈥淚t actually started with a male patient who鈥檚 around the age of 33 and he said to me that he鈥檚 just extremely tired for the past few days and he鈥檚 got these body aches and pains with a bit of a headache,鈥� she said about some of the symptoms associated with Omicron.

She added that the patient had a 鈥渟cratchy throat鈥� and that the patient did not have a sore throat, did not lose his sense of taste or smell, and had no cough鈥攁ll of which are symptoms associated with COVID and older variants of SARS Cov-2.

READ: COVID-19 Omicron variant detected in more countries as scientists race to find answers

鈥淎t the present time, WHO is coordinating with a large number of researchers around the world to better understand Omicron,鈥� WHO said.

鈥淪tudies currently underway or underway shortly include assessments of transmissibility, severity of infection (including symptoms), performance of vaccines and diagnostic tests and effectiveness of treatments,鈥� it added.

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), some of the mild to severe symptoms of COVID-19 include:

• fever or chills
• cough
• shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• fatigue
• muscle or body aches
• headache
• new loss of taste or smell
• sore throat
• runny nose or congestion
• nausea or vomiting
• diarrhea

Other variants

The new Omicron variant has joined the list of WHO鈥檚 VOC, which included:

• Alpha鈥攕cientific name: B.1.1.7; formerly known as UK variant; earliest documented samples in the United Kingdom (Sept. 2020); date of designation: Dec. 18, 2020
• Beta鈥攕cientific name: B.1.351; formerly known as South African variant; earliest documented samples in South Africa (May 2020); date of designation: Dec. 18, 2020
• Gamma鈥攕cientific name: P.1; formerly known as Brazilian variant; earliest documented samples in Brazil (Nov. 2020); date of designation: Jan. 11, 2021
• Delta鈥攕cientific name: B.1.617.2; formerly known as Indian variant; earliest documented samples in India 聽(Oct. 2020); date of designation: Apr. 4, 2021 (VOI), May 11, 2021 (VOC)

Meanwhile, WHO is still monitoring variants of interest (VOI), which include:

• Lambda鈥攕cientific name: C.37; earliest documented samples in Peru (Dec. 2020); date of designation: June 14, 2021
• Mu鈥攕cientific name: B.1.621; earliest documented samples in Colombia (Jan. 2021); date of designation: Aug. 30, 2021

Skipped Greek letters

WHO has been using the letters of the Greek alphabet to label key variants of SARS-CoV-2.

Prior to this, variants were named after their country of origin and where they were first detected.

According to WHO, the decision to rename the variants was to make them easier to say and remember as well as to avoid stigma and discrimination.

Following the sequence of the Greek alphabet and the already current variants recorded by the WHO, the new variant could have been named 鈥淣u鈥� which came after Mu.

However, WHO skipped Nu as well the letter which came after it鈥擷i.

鈥溾�楴u is too easily confounded with 鈥榥ew鈥� and 鈥榅i鈥� was not used because it is a common last name,鈥� WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told The New York Times, explaining why WHO skipped the two Greek letters.聽Xi is the surname of the current leader of China where SARS Cov-2 was believed to have originated.

What should we do?

To keep people safe amid the global spread of Omicron, WHO advised the public to follow public health and social measures.

These include:

• wearing well-fitting masks
• ensuring physical distance of at least one meter from others
• improving ventilation by opening windows
• avoiding poorly ventilated or crowded spaces
• frequent hand washing
• coughing or sneezing into a bent elbow or tissue
• and getting vaccinated against COVID

WHO, on Nov. 28, also issued a technical brief and priority actions for member states.

Among the priority actions recommended by WHO, based on risk assessment, to improve readiness for Omicron were:

• Enhance surveillance
• COVID testing and timely reporting of genomic data
• Escalate vaccination
• Implement a risk-based approach in adjusting international travel measures
• Impose public health and social measures
• Ensure readiness of the health care system
• Have risk communication and community engagement