December 13, 2021

Covid: First UK death recorded with Omicron variant

Source: BBC

At least one person in the UK has died with the Omicron coronavirus variant, the prime minister has said.

Boris Johnson said the new variant was also resulting in hospital admissions and the "best thing" people could do was get their booster jab.

Visiting a vaccination clinic in London, he said people should set aside the idea Omicron was a milder variant.

On Sunday, the PM set a new target for all adults in England to be offered a booster by the end of the month.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-59639007

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There is no evidence (so far) that Omicron causes more severe disease than Delta amongst double vaccinated people, but a whole lot of evidence that a the booster is necessary to protect against new infections. It is the pace of infections that will ultimately put pressure on the hospital system.

December 13, 2021

Britain says Omicron accounts for 40% of London infections

Source: Reuters

LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Britain said on Monday that the Omicron variant of coronavirus was spreading at a "phenomenal rate" and accounted for about 40% of all infections in London so people should get an additional dose of the vaccine because double-jabbed people are vulnerable.

Since the first cases of the Omicron variant were detected on Nov. 27 in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has imposed tougher restrictions and told the nation on Sunday that a "tidal wave" of Omicron was about to hit. read more

Britain says that unless action is taken there could be a million people infected with Omicron, which scientists say can still infect people who are double-vaccinated, by the end of the month.

"What we now know about Omicron is that... it's spreading at a phenomenal rate, something that we've never seen before, it's doubling every two to three days in infections," Health Secretary Sajid Javid told Sky News.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-says-omicron-spreading-phenomenal-rate-2021-12-13/

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A majority of the population in Britain were vaccinated with AstraZeneca which provides no protection against infections by Omicron, but a Pfizer booster on top can deliver 70-75% protection.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142839402

December 6, 2021

Namibia destroys 150,000 COVID vaccine jabs

Namibia's President Hage Geingob announced Monday that the first cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant had been detected in the country, which was forced to dispose of 150,000 expired vaccine doses.

Geingob called on citizens to get booster jabs after 18 Omicron cases were identified in the country, which neighbours South Africa where the variant was first discovered last month.

Only 12.1 percent of Namibia's 2.4 million people are fully vaccinated so far, with the low uptake largely blamed on hesitancy.

"It is highly regrettable that we are forced to destroy in excess of 150,000 vaccines, which have reached expiry date because those who are eligible are refusing to be vaccinated," Geingob told a news conference in the capital Windhoek.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-namibia-omicron-cases-jabs.html

"Hesitancy" has also brought South Africa's vaccination program to a stand still

South Africa Asks J&J, Pfizer to Stop Sending Vaccines
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-24/s-africa-wants-j-j-pfizer-vaccine-delivery-delay-news24-says

December 4, 2021

Omicron May Have Picked up a Piece of a Common-Cold Virus

The results of genetic sequencing leave open the possibility that Omicron may prove to be more contagious, but less virulent than Delta.

Omicron Variant May Have Picked up a Piece of Common-Cold Virus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up a snippet of genetic material from another virus - possibly one that causes the common cold - present in the same infected cells, according to researchers.

This genetic sequence does not appear in any earlier versions of the coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, but is ubiquitous in many other viruses including those that cause the common cold, and also in the human genome, researchers said.

By inserting this particular snippet into itself, Omicron might be making itself look "more human," which would help it evade attack by the human immune system, said Venky Soundararajan of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based data analytics firm nference, who led the study https://osf.io/f7txy posted on Thursday on the website OSF Preprints.

This could mean the virus transmits more easily, while only causing mild or asymptomatic disease. Scientists do not yet know whether Omicron is more infectious than other variants, whether it causes more severe disease or whether it will overtake Delta as the most prevalent variant. It may take several weeks to get answers to these questions.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-12-03/omicron-variant-may-have-picked-up-a-piece-of-common-cold-virus

December 2, 2021

Omicron in South Africa: Coronavirus cases triple in 3 days.

Coronavirus cases in South Africa nearly triple in three days as fears over omicron grow

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South Africa’s new daily coronavirus cases have almost tripled in three days, according to new figures released Thursday, raising alarms over the possible spread of the new omicron variant recently detected by the country’s scientists.

New daily confirmed cases rose to 11,535 on Thursday from 8,561 on Wednesday and 4,373 the previous day, according to official statistics. The cases represent a 22.4 percent positivity rate of people tested for the virus, up from 16.5 percent on Wednesday, a massive jump from a 1 percent positivity rate in early November, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said.

The majority of new infections were in the populous Gauteng province around the greater Johannesburg metropolitan area, with 8,280 cases, the NICD said.

“Omicron is .probably. the fastest-spreading variant that South Africa has ever seen,” said Tulio de Oliveira, the director of the Center for Epidemic Response and Innovation at Stellenbosch University, reacting to news of the increase in cases.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/12/02/south-africa-coronavirus-omicron/