As Omicron increases its foothold in US, scientists are racing to understand the variant - The Boston Globe

Now that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has made landfall in the United States, with at least 10 cases reported in six states, scientists are racing to discover the virus’s capabilities, and public health officials are waiting anxiously to see what happens next.

Such as: Will Omicron overtake Delta and become the dominant variant?

Scientists in South Africa reported Friday that Omicron appeared to spread more than twice as quickly as Delta.

“Omicron has clearly outcompeted Delta in South Africa.

In South Africa, Omicron arrived after Delta cases had subsided.

Delta also spreads extremely fast and can infect vaccinated people.

Lemieux said he thinks that, because Omicron spreads so fast, “it’s more likely than not that Omicron will outcompete Delta everywhere?

In South Africa, few people are vaccinated, but a significant proportion have some immunity from having already been sick with COVID-19 — and Omicron has shown it can infect them.

How will Omicron fare among vaccinated people.

Lemieux believes “there’s a real possibility” that Omicron will do a better job of infecting vaccinated people than previous variants.

Topol said there’s already plenty of evidence from the cases so far that Omicron can infect vaccinated people.

Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, has posited a different scenario, in which Omicron and Delta coexist as “separate, twin outbreaks.” Delta would attack unvaccinated people while Omicron goes after those with partial immunity, either from a previous infection or incomplete vaccination, he wrote in the Daily Beast.

In an interview with the Globe, Hotez said it’s certainly possible Omicron will outcompete Delta in the United States.

“Just because [Omicron] is taking over in South Africa doesn’t yet mean it’s going to take over the rest of the world.”.

Lantagne, the Tufts professor, sees three possible scenarios: The US wave of Delta cases could fade, and Omicron would not become the dominant variant

In that case, the new variant could overtake Delta but reduce infections to something closer to a common cold