Omicron: What we know so far about the new COVID-19 variant | DW News

There is growing global alarm about Omicron, the new coronavirus

variant

that first emerged in South Africa. Researchers say it could be the most infectious form of the virus yet and could even outperform current vaccines. The international response has been rapid. Many countries have closed air travel. From South Africa itself, the bans also extend to other southern African nations, including Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The South African government says the closures are an overreaction. Omicron has moved quickly now as countries around the world are racing to get ahead. Prohibition of flights from the region. where the

variant

was first discovered, South Africans suddenly find themselves isolated from the world.

My fear right now is travel restrictions because that's a big part of my job, so for me it's the implications that this will have, you

know

, moving around for work. The fact that at this moment the vaccines that are on the market no one

know

s if they will really be effective against this variant or not is really worrying. It's really worrying for me since the UK announced its travel ban, many other countries have followed demand The South African government says they acted too quickly, the reaction of some countries in terms of imposing travel bans and such measures are completely in Contrary to the rules and standards guided by the World Health Organization, the UK simply went ahead and imposed the restrictions without even as soon as the travel restrictions were announced, they are more likely to slow rather than completely stop the spread. from Omicron.

Dutch health officials fear that dozens of coveted infected passengers who arrived in Amsterdam on Friday may also be infected with the new variant Hong Kong Israel and Belgium have already confirmed cases the world has made progress in the fight against coronavirus but the new variant shows that the battle is far from the message for now of many officials receive the vaccine receive the booster and follow public health regulations. I'm talking to Kai Cooper Schmidt, he's now a molecular biologist and science journalist. Kai in a nutshell,

what

is the main difference between Omicron and the variants we already know?

Well, it's not that easy to identify, actually, I mean, we have to realize that right now we only have two things to do: we have

what

is happening in South Africa, where this virus at the moment seems to be replacing Delta, suggesting it could spread faster than Delta or better than Delta or reinfect. Better people, we don't know yet, it's just a point, but that's one thing, the other thing is that the genome in the genome of this virus is quite unusual, I mean, it has many of the same mutations that we have seen in Alpha . and beta in Delta, so some of the concerning variants that we've seen, but it also has a lot of other mutations, some of which, as you know, the science that was done a year ago showed that they would be very concerning because they could enhance the virus . to escape immunity, so right now we really have two really big red flags, let's say, but we're certainly going to have to wait the next few days and weeks to find out which of these fears will actually be true or either of them.

We still have a lot more to learn clearly, but let me ask you: is it likely that the roots of

omicron

are in fact in South Africa or is it more likely that the South Africans have done more testing and therefore have now discovered for the second time a new Well, South Africa is clearly the country of that continent that does more testing, has a very good surveillance network and I think the South African scientists have done an outstanding job here and made it public very early, when they only had 100 genomes. because they knew that in this situation it was very important to get the

news

out quickly so that people could prepare for what might come, but you know, the travel restrictions, what's happening right now, we can't be 100 sure that this came from South Africa would certainly be expected to be in the neighboring countries.

We have the virus also detected in Botswana, so some of the travel restrictions have been targeted at a broader area, but the travel restrictions come at a high cost and, most importantly, this creates a disincentive for countries even announce or even look for new variants, so we have to be very careful with this. We will not be able to stop this virus with travel restrictions. I think it's very clear that we could stop it. If you write it down, you can defend these travel restrictions, but then we should really use the time we gain with these travel restrictions to do something and at the moment, frankly, I don't really see what we are doing when we are not even in Germany, for For example, we do what is necessary to combat the virus at our own borders.

Kai, we have already seen progress in vaccination with the Delta variant. Could Omicron vaccines be even less effective and to what extent is that okay? At the current point, I think it's speculation. If you look at the genome, there are clearly signs that are very concerning and experts that I've spoken to who have looked at neutralizing antibodies from different viruses suspect that this virus might be a little bit. It is more difficult for vaccine-induced immunity or natural immunity to combat. That doesn't mean it's not a black and white issue. It doesn't mean that immunity will suddenly disappear, but there is a strong possibility.

I'd say we'll find out. The vaccines are a little less effective against this variant, but we will have to wait for the experience that takes a week or two, so hopefully in two weeks we will know, but we certainly have to prepare for the possibility. and even if it is not true for this variant we have to prepare for the possibility that other variants will come and it will happen sooner or later we have to leave it there. I'm afraid we could talk to you all day, molecular biologist and journalist Kai. Cooper Schmidt, thank you very much, thank you.

Let's bring DW correspondent Adrian Krish to Cape Town. Adrian more and more countries prohibit travel from South Africa. How concerned is the government about this? Well, the government here is also worried. Michael, the president. Surah Ramaphosa announced that there will be a meeting of the national Corona council on Sunday, so possibly more restrictions within South Africa are also on the table. You have to remember that in the last few weeks the number of new infections was very low here so life is almost back to normal I would say um. Earlier this month there were new infection rates of around 100 per day, in recent days they have risen significantly to over 2 500 new infections per day and scientists here say this is the start of the fourth wave in South Africa if it is So. driven by the new variant is not clear, it is also not clear how bad it is going to be, some argue that it might not be that bad because at the moment it is a summer year, but what is also quite clear is that South Africa really cannot count. in their vaccination program due to very low vaccination rates here less than 25 per cent of South Africans are vaccinated there is great vaccine hesitancy Adrian of course I imagine the

news

about the travel bans has not been very Well received, not at all, especially among the scientists who discovered About this new variant, one of the main researchers basically said that the world should show solidarity instead of isolating these countries.

Now I mean here in South Africa and also globally, they are praised for their transparency but now many people here have the feeling that they are being punished for it and another scientist even argued that it is naive to believe that these travel bans can actually stop the spread of the virus, according to him, if there is one thing that this pandemic has shown, it is that the virus will continue to spread and travel with its variants, unless you are an island, you will not be able to stop it and of course this will have enormous consequences for the South African economy and many people here feel that it is like Déjà Vu, something like what happened about a year ago when The beta variant was discovered here in South Africa by South African scientists, although so far it is not clear if it actually originated here, but The consequences were harsh.

We also saw travel bans back then in many countries where tourists. The rivals decreased. It has had a massive impact on the economy and this is very likely what we are going to see again now is that the tourism sector will suffer a lot here just as the season started again yesterday I went to a local tourist market here where people are selling. Souvenirs and vendors are devastated. A man told me that he doesn't know how to put food on his children's table if tourists don't come. Deja Vu for South Africa. This is the DW audience in Cape Town.

Thank you so much. Here's some other news. The Netherlands has tightened restrictions again, bars, restaurants and non-essential shops must close by 5 p.m. Canada will criminalize anti-vaccination protests in front of hospitals and clinics. The crackdown comes after medical staff were harassed at work and US drugmaker Merck admitted its new Covid-19 pill is 30 percent less effective than early trials indicated the treatment is. chances of preventing hospitalization or death