"I believe we must be cautious about exaggerating the significance of these occurrences. That being said, it's alarming."
Virus scientists warn that the new coronavirus variation Omicron is a matter of concern, advising you to take precautions and stating that they are unsure of the virus's exact danger level. (They do know that Delta is still stalking the United States, so be cautious.) Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb spoke on Face the Nation yesterday to help keep you safe. Please continue reading for five bits of life-saving advice from him.
1. A Virus Expert Said About a Possibility of Super-Spreading: "It's Alarming."
Some Omicron cases have emerged from a New York anime festival where attendees were required to get vaccinated. Should you be concerned, that Omicron may be immune to vaccines? "Well, look, hearing these experiences, it's obviously a heightened degree of fear," Dr. Gottlieb remarked. "As a result, just one dosage of vaccination was required for the conference in New York. We have no idea how good the masks these people were wearing were. We have to assume that the majority of them are cotton masks, which will not provide adequate protection against something that is airborne. We must also remember that we hear accounts about super spreader incidents such as this. We have a single introduction with a large number of cases, but we don't hear anything about it. All of these cases when someone with this new variety came into contact with people and there was no onward transmission aren't documented because there aren't any cases. As a result, I believe we must be cautious about over-interpreting these events. That being said, it's alarming. When you witness a single introduction into a congregate setting that results in 30 infections...."
2. A Virus Expert Said That While a High Number of Omicron Cases Have Been Found in People Who Have Previously Had COVID, It Is Still "Too Early" to Draw Conclusions
"It's too early to conclude that the infections, or the best data, are currently coming from South Africa, since they just have more instances. And right now, all evidence indicates that a large number of persons who are presenting with infection from this new variety of people who have previously been infected with Delta, had previously been infected with Delta "Dr. Gottlieb stated. "Remember how destructive the Delta wave was in South Africa? In South Africa, it is estimated that more than 90% of the population was infected with Delta virus since they were not vaccinated. So, we don't know if this new strain of COVID is intrinsically less virulent or if it's a more moderate COVID strain, if it's not giving us significant disease or if it's presenting that way simply because it's infecting people with some pre-existing immunity. As a result, they are protected from COVID. So, they're getting infected, but not as sick as they should be. Right now, the question is whether this will reinfect people who have Delta immunity but haven't been vaccinated, or whether it will infect people who have been vaccinated. There are grounds to assume that vaccines may be more effective than natural Delta infection in providing protection. That'll be a crucial question to answer. We need to figure it out in the next weeks because we need to make some major policy decisions based on the response."
3. A Virus Expert Says Infection in Children Is "Concerning."
"In South Africa, there was also an increase in hospitalizations of children under the age of five, which was concerning to parents like me. How concerned should we be?" Brennan enquired. "That's troubling," Dr. Gottlieb stated. "I mean, children under the age of two accounted for 11% of all hospitalizations. And if you look a little further up about, I believe under the age of nine, over 20% of hospitalizations in some of the hospitals, it's worsened by the fact that South Africa is currently experiencing a major flu pandemic. And, according to clinicians on the ground, when a toddler presents to the hospital with a respiratory infection, they make a presumption diagnosis of COVID. Out of an abundance of caution, even if the child does not test positive for COVID. As a result, there may be some over-reporting of COVID positives in very young infants, which is problematic. And we have to assume that the children are a population that has been preserved. They have not been infected with Delta at the same rate as adults. They haven't been vaccinated either because the vaccines haven't been rolled out to youngsters under the age of 12 in any significant numbers. As a result, children are the most sensitive demographic to any new variety."
4. A Virus Expert Said This About Omicron-Specific Vaccines
Will an Omicron-specific vaccination be developed? "Yeah. Look, businesses are doing it "Gottlieb stated. "Pfizer, the firm for which I serve on the board of directors, is doing so, and they're getting ready to start manufacturing. This is a significant decision because, in the past, when we designed a vaccine to exclusively target 1351, the ancient South African version, the vaccine worked well or appeared to function well against 1351 but didn't appear to provide as high coverage against the other variants. And there's reason to suspect that developing vaccinations that are highly specific to some of these new variants won't function as well against the complete range of variants we've observed. So, you should strive to stick with the vaccine's ancestral strain, the Wuhan strain. I believe that when the virus mutates, it will begin to hide some of the viral targets on its surface for as long as possible. As a result, until the full complement of targets on the surface, you get a vaccine that doesn't deliver as broad immunity. As a result, you'll receive a more targeted vaccine." Expectations have stated that you should not wait for this; it will take months; instead, obtain the current vaccine.
5. How to Stay Safe When You're Outside
Get vaccinated as soon as possible; if you live in a place with low vaccination rates, use an N95 face mask, avoid large groups, don't go indoors with individuals you aren't sheltering with (particularly in bars), practice essential hand cleanliness, and safeguard your life and the lives of others.