Omicron variant: alarm throughout the world for the new variant of the SarS-CoV2 virus isolated in South Africa, which with its 32 mutations already discovered triples those of the Delta. Until now known with the acronym B.1.1.529, the WHO has classified it as "worrying".
The possibility that it is much more contagious than the others and that it can neutralize the effectiveness of vaccines is raising strong fears. Confirming the surge in the alert level, the meeting called for yesterday of the Technical Advisory Group of the'World Health Organization in Geneva. Meanwhile, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) provides some preliminary information according to which Omicron could be associated with very high transmissibility, a weakening of the action of vaccines but not with a more serious infection. For its part, theEuropean Medicines Agency (EMA) states that for the moment it is 'premature' to predict whether an adaptation of the vaccines is necessary for B.1.1.529.
In the scientific journal Nature the virologist Penny Moore, of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, clarifies that about two weeks are needed to understand whether and to what extent the new variant is able to escape the antibodies generated by the anti-Covid vaccines, as well as the defenses due to the activation of the immune system's T cells.
Massimo Zollo, geneticist of theFederico II University of Naples and coordinator of the Ceinge Covid-19 Task Force warns that B.1.1.529 could fool vaccines because it has a very high number of mutations on the Spike protein: for this reason it is necessary to strengthen tracking and speed up the bureaucracy for the approval of new antiviral drugs that block the replication of the virus in cells.
“I am very concerned about this variant which has all the credentials to be more aggressive than the previous ones: the high load of mutations on the Spike protein could make it unrecognizable to the antibodies generated by vaccines”, he explains. However, the pharmaceutical companies are not caught unprepared and immediately Pfizer and BioNtech let it be known that they are already studying Omicron and expect to have the first results. “at the latest within two weeks”.
Not only: “If a variant emerges that eludes the vaccine, they will be able to develop and produce a tailored immunizer in about 100 days, subject to regulatory approval.”
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Article published on November 27, 2021 - 09:03
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