Is Omicron Really Dangerous?
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
A new COVID-19 variant Omicron is spreading in Africa. This virus has more than 50 mutations. As of now, we don’t have any idea how effective our vaccines will be on this variant. WHO has declared it a variant of concern because the world is at risk from this new variant. Why is WHO scared?
There are 3 reasons-
1. Number of mutations.
2. Types of mutations.
3. Speed of its spread.
This is the fastest spreading COVID-19 variant till date. After this news came out many countries banned all flights coming from Africa. The stock markets also witnessed heavy selling.
But is this variant really dangerous?
Can our vaccines stop this variant?
Is there a silver lining, some positive news in this?
Because how we behave in the next couple of days will impact whether we have a third wave or not. Let’s understand what are Mutations? And what difference do these mutations make? The cells that are at the boundaries of our lungs they are called ACE2 receptors. A covid-19 virus has these raised spikes which are called spike protein when these spike protein connect with ACE2 receptors the infection spreads into our lungs in very simple terms this is like a lock and key mechanism there are minute changes but the more effectively these changes can connect the more infectious the virus our vaccines are meant to target these spike protein so that they detect COVID-19 particular spike protein and kill the virus before they connect to ACE2 receptors but in Omicron variant this spike protein has 30 mutations or 30 changes when we take any vaccine the vaccine gives a signal to the body to create a type of antibody these antibodies connect to the spike protein and stop then from entering into our healthy cells but because of the high number of mutations things get a little complicated because, till now, we don’t know if the old antibodies will work on this new variant.
How dangerous is the Omicron variant? Short answer, we don’t know yet long answer, it is complicated. There are 100 confirmed cases in South Africa and from that only 1 is on ventilator only time will tell how deadly this virus is but the problem is as compared to the other variants, symptoms for this variant are a little different oxygen saturation levels do not fall a person does not lose sense of smell or taste but yes, fatigue is a symptom of this new variant because these symptoms are different from other variants.
You need to be cautious in public areas. Now, how dangerous will this variant be? It depends on whether our vaccines work or not research on this is ongoing best case is that vaccines provide us protection against Omicron and only some people have a serious infection and the worst case is none of the vaccines work against the new variant and 2022 is similar to 2020 and 2021 so let’s hope for the best and be prepared for the worst but on the other hand Omicron news can be a blessing in disguise because Delta variant was the most dangerous till now.
the Delta variant is causing 99% of the cases in India and abroad the delta variant can be deadly but if corona virus mutates and the Omicron variant is here to stay and it finishes the Delta variant then a dangerous variant will disappear from the world. So, what precaution can we take? Firstly, don’t panic but don’t take it lightly more infectious does not mean more deadly we should remember it before we panic.
We have to be careful and take precaution of our own self in public. The research on this variant has just begun that means as the research into this continues scientist will uncover more facts about this, will vaccine work or not? How dangerous is this new variant? These are facts we will know with passing time. As a society, we will collectively have to make sure that the people who come in contact with us take both their vaccine shots on time. We all of us should not take things lightly.
The virus has become a part of our life now but that does not mean we can take things for granted. Early celebrations can be deadly we know that, so wear your masks, get vaccinated and follow the rules.
“LIFE is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the RAIN”
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