The Omicron Variant, The Vaccines ; Where we are today on COVID-19

It's been a while since I dropped a post hive and most times at my leisure, I peep into the platform to read and enjoy some of the beautiful contents our amazing authors keep dishing out.

Hive has come to stay and I am proud to be a member of this great community. At this point, I must admit to the fact that, as humans advance in age and career, more responsibilities and challenges follow suit. I love writing and naturally it is one thing I can do and flow with at ease besides my professional career pursuit.

How we manage our time matters a lot. 24hours to some individuals is never enough, regardless, it is what we make out of that 24hours that matters the most. We will take a quick dive once again into COVID-19.

It is good we are always kept abreast on trends so that we don't get lost or be misinformed. The aim of this article is simply to enlighten the reader about latest trends regarding COVID-19.

Should you wish to find out more about the virus - COVID-19, how it operates,how to ensure you don't get infected and also get facts regarding the disease, I recommend you read the following articles. I Crafted some articles long before now. They are well written in simple terms, less of medical jargons and easily understandable.

•Critical and detailed expository on Coronavirus disease; all you need to know

•Strengthening your immune system; the foundation for your survival against Covid-19 pandemic

•Debunking the myths and spreading facts about Covid-19 infection and

•Demystifying the myths about face mask: mechanism and principles of operation

The world has been talking about the COVID-19 since it's break out in December 2019. This disease has taken lives, caused economic imbalance, cost some people their job and means of livelihood. It has rendered many poor and to cap it up, increased the cost living. The negative impacts have been seen to be more in developing countries.

Omicron SARS-COV-2 radial tree

The days of coronavirus is actually not over per say because, this virus has so far defied odds. It seems it is not yet satisfied with the number of lives it has taken. Just when we think, we are recovering from the economic downturn and problems it caused, boom, we hear more.

Just to refreshen our minds, coronavirus is a respiratory virus that thrives more in the respiratory system, passed from person to person through respiratory droplets from an infected carrier.

It is called the respiratory droplets because is particle is denser than air thus cannot be swayed by wind. This is one of the reasons you cannot be infected when you stay 1m away from people.

Why variants?

Coronavirus have so far exhibited one the very common attributes of viruses in general and this is, the ability to transform into more deadly and lethal forms that are capable of resisting treatment. This characteristic is not only peculiar to viruses but also to other micro organism, case in point bacteria.

It is worth knowing at this point that, all viruses change over time. Though these changed actually have little or no effect on the virus attributes but when they do, it can greatly affect how easily it spreads, severity of the disease they cause,the vaccines efficiency, drugs and even the measures that have been put in place to curb their spread.

"Viruses constantly change through mutation and sometimes these mutations result in a new variant of the virus. Some variants emerge and disappear while others persist."CDC

Usually when these viruses transform, the resultant effects is the ineffectiveness of the regular drugs or treatment protocol that on a normal would wipe them out.

As much as viruses are deadlier most bacteria and other infections, they are more fragile and can easily die off though with some exceptions like the hepatitis B virus. Viruses are easily susceptible to heat yet they wreck more havoc than other micro organisms.

One of the reason is because they are notorious and well known for taking over their host genetic machinery and in the process replicating millions of their copies of RNA in the host. This is one mechanism that helps them to spread across all cells of their host.

Now in a situation where there is an error in replication cycle, the RNA gets changed and this different from the former that penetrated the host. This change is called mutation and it is one factor that leads to the formation of new variants.

These changes to the viral genetic component is usually random and can happen by chance unless purposely done and this is where we can begin to raise eyebrows; are we sure that scientist are not manipulating this virus in order to stay in business.

WHO

Narrowing our discussion to coronavirus, it is very important we have a full grasp of this virus variants, how they act, how to prevent them and also possible effective treatment protocols that suits them.

Concerns and questions have been raised about the effectiveness of the said COVID-19 vaccine. Do they really work or are scientist, pharmaceutical industries, politicians just using the pandemic to make and acquire more wealth to themselves. Why do we have variants? Handiwork of man or nature? We will address some of this concerns as we go deeper into the discussion.

The variants so far...

In general, the names given to the variants are named based on two major considerations - Non stigmatizing and easy to pronounce.

Currently, the known coronavirus variants so far as of writing this article are just five (7) and they grouped into what is known as the Variants of concern, (VOC) and the Variants of interest, (VOI). You might want to ask, on what basis is this grouping?

The Variants of concerns are those ones that have been shown to be more virulent,have increased in the rate of their transmissibility and have developed more resistance to treatment.

They practically become more difficult to handle and even they defy existing public health measures that have been put in place to curb their spread and infectivity. These group so far have been identified to be five (5) in number and they include the The alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and the Omicron variants.

I believe you now see and fully understand where we are and why alarm has been raised about the Omicron variants. Judging by virulence (the degree of disease causing ability of a pathogen), the Omicron variant, could be deadlier than the previous four variants of concern. Not much is known yet about the Omicron variant, but with time more facts will be uncovered.

Omircon (B.1.1.529) variant has the ability to evade the body defense (e.g antibody) system. so if you previously recovered from Corona virus infection, you are still not safe.

Variants of interest, (VOI) are those ones whose genetic changes have been identified to critically affect virus attributes like the ease of transmissibility, the severity of the disease associated with them, mimicking the human immune system and in the process escaping destruction, they even very difficult to diagnose and treat.

It doesn't stop there, they also cause serious community transmission or multiple COVID-19 clusters, in many countries. They are associated with high consistent increase in their prevalence rate with increasing increasing number of cases over time WHO.

They are usually of a great concern to the epidemiologists. Before now, the two known variants of interest are the Lambda and the Mu Variants. You don't get to hear more of them because they are not as serious as those under the group of VOCs. Infact, they have been reclassified based on new findings that they no longer pose much risk. So as it stands presently, there is no SARS-CoV-2 variant under the VOCs group.

I know you have a burning question in your mind right now, and correct me if I am wrong, the question would be, so how are these variants identified. The only and easier way to identify new Variants of viruses, is simply through consistent studying and monitoring of the virus progression scientifically (with the use of a high throughput process known as next generation sequencing). if not, they can turn out to be more virulent, highly transmissible and more fatal.

The use of next generation sequencing is one of the best and most advanced technique of isolating and studying genes. It has so far taken over Sanger sequencing technique because of its ability to sequence genes, generating data from them and analysing them simultaneously to produce meaningful Information about any changes to a cell.

How do the vaccines work?

The general principle of vaccine production is to use an attenuated or inactivated form of that virus to mount an immune response in a host.

The host sensing the attenuated virus as a foreign body, responds by producing antibodies and memory B cells that will ward off the foreign body and keeps a record of it respectively for future occurrence. Subsequent attacks by the virus, the body systems will act swiftly in response to prevent disease by the virus.

Coronavirus vaccines

So practically and in the simplest of terms, COVID-19 vaccines are just the coronavirus but in an inactivated form. Meaning, that genetic content (the viron or viral particle) that causes the infection has been removed. What mounts the immune response are just the antigens and unique molecular components of the virus.

Vaccines vary from one manufacturer to the other. By implication, different manufacturer may use different genetic content of the virus. The table below summarizes the statement above.

COVID-19 vaccine comparison

The effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines so far have been reported to be somewhat reliable but the fears of individuals remains one of the greatest factor to non acceptance and willingness to take the vaccine.

When the covid-19 vaccine was newly introduced, alot of concerns were raised about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, considering the incredible Short time period in which it was produced.

If we go back memory lane, during the time of small pox virus (the first and only virus that was eradicated using vaccine) it took years before Edward Jenner in 1796 developed the very first vaccine that effectively eradicated the virus.

The question, so why is it so difficult in getting the ultimate cure or vaccine against this deadly virus in this present and more advanced dispensation.

Since the said vaccines work, why are they not effective enough to eradicate the coronavirus, why are we still having variants, why was there no variants of small pox back then? Are we not advanced enough or is this just an intentional approach by individuals to stay in business. These are questions that need address.

Producing the vaccine is one thing, acceptance and willingness to be vaccinated is another thing. Vaccine production doesn't do the protection, it is vaccination (the process of administering vaccines to individuals) that does. In essence, a vaccine is only effective if people are willing to make use of it.

The vaccines so far

The pfizer-BioNTech on 20th November 2020, was the first company to submit application to the Food Drug and Administration (FDA), for Covid-19 vaccine use . Though their application was strictly for emergency use authorization. This was necessitated to curb the progressive increase in the number of COVID-19 cases being reported globally.

It didn't take long and by December 2, 2020 same year,the United Kingdom's regulatory agency- Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) gave pfizer-BioNTech a temporary approval.

This authomatically allowed for vaccination of people within the country. This made the UK the very first country to approve the use of COVID-19 vaccine we hear about today.

As much as it came so fast, still it was really needed desperately at that moment. The morale behind the emergency approval was based on the premise that, the benefits of the vaccination outweighs any side effects or consequences that might arise in future.

What just played out above is what is referred to as the principle of consequentialism - if the benefits outweighs the risk, do it.

Its approval for use by the United Kingdom government brought smiles to alot of people, though this for sure didn't go down without yet to be verified rumours about the vaccine inefficiency.

The approval of the Pfizer has opened up doors for more vaccine production.

Today we have about about 3 main vaccine that have been approved for use in the US and other Nations. The first on the list is:

•pfizer-BioNTech
•Moderna
•Johnson and Johnson's Janseen

Others in Addition to the above under strict regulations by WHO include

•Oxford-AstraZeneca
•Sinopharm BIBP
•CoronaVac and
•Covaxin

To know more about the genetic content of each virus, kindly scroll up to the picture above with the caption - comparing coronavirus vaccines.

The above vaccines are still in phase 3 clinical trial because they are still under emergency use authorization. This simply means that the side effects are still understudied.

The COVID-19 vaccine developmental stage

Manufacturers at this point cannot be held responsible if should consequences arise from the use of the vaccine in the near future. Reason is that, besides the fact that they were approved under emergency, the manufacturers also ensure that any country wishing to use the use must sign and indemnity documents.

The indemnity documents is simply a document that vindicates the manufacturer from any legal action or litigation due to the effects that might arise from the use of the vaccine.

That is the risk we all have to take and should anything happen, They cannot be held responsible. This is one of the reasons why some persons have blatantly refused vaccination. Who would want to take a vaccine that even the manufacturer is yet to fully confirm that it has no serious consequences and side effects later now and even in time to come.

As the days goes by, more vaccines are being produced. Currently, there are 5 more being investigated by WHO - Sputnik V, Sinopharm WIBP, Convidecia, Novavax and Sanofi–GSK.

It is worth noting at this point that, COVID-19 vaccine is the fastest as the fastest vaccine to ever be produced in history by replacing the Mump Vaccine that was produced within 4 years of infection spread.

Why should we be concerned about variants

Over time, the effects of Coronavirus has been seen to be more devastating than one can imagine. According to WHO live feed report

"Globally, as of 4:57pm CET, 3 December 2021, there have been 263,563,622 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,232,562 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 3 December 2021, a total of 7,864,123,038 vaccine doses have been administered."

The more these viruses infect humans, the more the chances of their mutation. When they are eradicated faster, you tend to have lower chances of them mutating and that's is why it is of a great concern to us as humans and the entire world at large.

We all have a role to play in curbing the spread of this deadly virus and preventing it's further spread, mutation leading to formation of new variants. The quicker they are eradicated, the lower the risk of variants formation.

How the Omicron variant came to be

On the 24th of November 2021, the very first case of the Omicron virus was reported to the WHO by the South African epidemiologists. Since after its reports, it didn't take much long before other cases began to emerge.

The Omicron variant (B.1.1.529)

Variants usually differ from each other with few characteristics. For example, the major difference between the previous variants and this current one: The Omicron variant aka (B.1.1.529 variant)CDC, is in the spike proteins (An epitope on the surface of the virus through which they use to penetrate and enter their host cells.

Reports so far seems to suggest that the Omicron variant spreads faster than other variants. Besides the ability to spread faster, there is also increased risk of reinfection with the variant, WHO.

The striking unique feature of the Omicron variant is the presence of an unusual increase in the number of mutations in its spike protein, thus making it much more notorious and deadly, RIVM.

Since there isn't much information about the Omicron variants as of writing this article, it is believed that adhering to laid down COVID-19 Infection prevention protocols remains the gold standard and most effective way to prevent against this deadly variants.

Advise

The coronavirus disease is still much around. Some people till today still don't believe that coronavirus exist. Regardless of what anyone may believe, the fact remains that coronavirus exist and facts have proven it. Ensure to stay safe and observe every Infection prevention control protocols to avoid falling victim.

Coronavirus is real, wearing of face mask when necessary, sanitizing our hands, avoiding crowd remains the gold standard.

Remember, variants can be deadlier, rugged and virulent than their parent virus. Prevention is better than cure. Omicron could be deadlier! Stay safe!

Until I come your way again, stay awesome.

Thanks for reading...

References

_{•Coronavirus variants
•WHO- Tracking coronavirus variants
•CDC- Coronavirus variants
•What you need to know about the Omicron variant
•Small Pox History
•CDC Brief Omicron
•RIVM- Coronavirus variants- Omicron
•Coronavirus vaccines}