New ‘Variant of Concern’ Fuels Global Fear of Another Virus Surge
Scientists do not yet know how dangerous the new Omicron variant is, but its many mutations set off alarms, lowering hopes of putting the pandemic in the past.
The world reacted with alarm on Friday to the highly mutated new coronavirus variant discovered in southern Africa, as the United States, the European Union and nations across the globe imposed new travel restrictions, financial markets swooned and visions of finally emerging from the pandemic started to dim.Just two days after the world learned of the variant, the World Health Organization officially labeled it a “variant of concern,” its most serious category...The designation means that the variant has mutations that might make it more contagious or more virulent, or make vaccines and other preventive measures less effective — though none of those effects has yet been established.
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President Biden made the decision to bar travelers from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi, starting Monday, after a briefing by his top advisers on the pandemic, including Dr. Anthony Fauci.
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But officials warned that even with quickly enacted travel restrictions, Omicron, like past variants, is certain to spread and reach the United States.
“It’s going to buy us some time,” Dr. Fauci said in an interview. “It’s not going to be possible to keep this infection out of the country. The question is: Can you slow it down?”
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The administration is already in talks with vaccine makers about the possibility that they may have to reformulate the shots to respond to the variant, according to another administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. But first, scientists would need to determine that existing vaccines really are less effective against Omicron, a process that is expected to take weeks, if not longer.
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Scientists have identified about 50 mutations in the genome of the Omicron variant that set it apart from other variants, far more than in any previous variant, including more than 30 on the spike protein that the virus uses to bind to host cells.
Changes in the spike protein are particularly worrisome because immune system antibodies that fight the virus — whether they are induced by infection or by vaccination — primarily recognize and target the spike.
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The response to the Omicron variant was especially quick and sharp in Europe, once again the epicenter of the global pandemic, where fights over vaccines and social restrictions have grown increasingly harsh.
Reported coronavirus cases have soared in Europe from about 700,000 a week in early September to 2.6 million a week. The surge began in the less-vaccinated countries of Eastern Europe, but then spread to highly vaccinated nations to the west that had thought they would not be vulnerable and were caught off guard.
