Omicron could threaten COVID-19 immunity — but we’re not going back to ‘square one’ – CBC
Scientists warn variant mutations may heighten risk and urge Canadians to be cautious
Dec 01, 2021
The omicron variant, now reported in multiple Canadian provinces and a growing number of countries worldwide, could threaten hard-won immunity to the virus behind COVID-19.
But global scientists say the world has a crucial head start on the latest variant of concern, thanks to early detection. And there’s hope this highly mutated version of the coronavirus won’t bring the world back to “square one” in this pandemic.
South African scientists quickly identified and alerted the world to the variant last week, finding a concerning number of mutations that could potentially impact the effectiveness of vaccines, the transmissibility of the virus and even the severity of disease.
Immunologists and virologists say that while it will still take time to determine the variant’s real-world impact, our immunity from vaccines and prior infection could take a significant hit if it takes off globally.
“I wouldn’t say that this one’s going to put us back to zero,” said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona.
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/omicron-variant-where-we-stand-1.6268508
