Omicron

First detected in South Africa and classified as a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation, B.1.1.529 or Omicron is the 13th variant of the Covid-19 virus and the 5th variant of concern in total. Notably, Omicron stands 15th amongst Greek alphabets. While research is underway to understand the impacts of this virus, preliminary research suggests that the virus is infecting people who had a prior infection at a much higher rate than previous variants. Early indications also prove that it is milder and not as potent as prior Covid strains, however, it does reduce vaccine efficiency. While Omicron has, at present, been found in 68 countries across the world like India, Japan, South Korea and more, no deaths have been reported anywhere so far. Notably, The first known confirmed Omicron infection was determined from a specimen collected on November 9, 2021. zIn the US, the first reported and confirmed Omicron case was that of a California-based, fully vaccinated man who had returned from South Africa. Omicron is highly transmissible and less susceptible to inoculations. The new variant has been detected on every continent except Antarctica. India’s first Omicron case was detected in Karnataka and experts suggest that it is bound to surpass the relatively severe Delta variant in terms of spreading speed. More