Omicron Vriant

1
OMICRON VARIANT

• ANWER GHANI
• Summarization of observations of Robert Bollinger
  on Johns Hopkins Medicine.

2
Coronavirus Variants

• Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, several
  coronavirus variants have emerged as the virus,
  SARS-CoV-2, continues to mutate and evolve.

3
Coronavirus Variants

• In November 2021, a variant of the SARS-CoV-2
  coronavirus emerged, and was named omicron by the
  World Health Organization (WHO).

4
Omicron There is much to learn

• Because of its recent emergence, scientists are
  just starting to learn about omicron

5
Is omicron more transmissible (contagious)?

• There is some preliminary evidence suggesting the
  omicron variant is more infectious than the delta
  variant.

6
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• There is no evidence so far that the standard
  prevention strategies, including vaccination,
  masking, distancing, ventilation and hand-washing
  are not effective in reducing the risk of
  infection or transmission.

7
Does omicron cause more severe COVID-19 illness?

• The answer appears to be no.

8
Do the COVID vaccines still work?

• Being fully vaccinated, including boosters, will
  still provide a reduced risk of hospitalization
  and death.
• If we find that the current vaccines are not
  providing optimal protection against severe
  disease or death due to this variant, we will be
  able to quickly modify the current vaccines to
  address omicron.

9
Does the omicron variant show up on COVID tests?

• The available commercial diagnostic PCR
  (polymerase chain reaction) and antigen COVID
  tests still appear to work to identify the
  omicron variant.

10
Do the current antiviral drugs still work on
omicron?

• Some antiviral drugs work by limiting a virus
  ability to make copies of itself (replicate) in
  the body.
• Remdesivir is the only such antiviral drug
  currently authorized for emergency.
• Two other antiviral drugs, one from Merck and one
  from Pfizer, are under FDA review to see if they,
  too, can be authorized.

11
Do current monoclonal antibody (MAbs) treatments
still work for people infected with the omicron
variant?

• We do not know yet how well the current MAbs will
  work for the omicron variant, but we will know
  very soon how well they neutralize omicron in the
  lab.
• If they neutralize, this will be reassuring. If
  they do not, I am confident that we will be able
  to quickly modify the current MAbs to address
  this, he says.