We've been battling viruses for long, will see back of Covid, too

How many avatars does the Coronavirus have? From Alpha, Beta to Delta to Omicron now, it is undergoing several mutations and has emerged as the most wily contender for the human beings.

All viruses, includingSARS-CoV-2,the virus that causes Covid-19, change over time. Most changes have little to no impact on the virus' properties. However, some changes may affect the virus's properties, such as how easily it spreads, the associated disease severity, or the performance of vaccines, therapeutic medicines, diagnostic tools, or other public health and social measures.

The WHO (World Health Organisation), in collaboration with partners, expert networks, national authorities, institutions and researchers have been monitoring and assessing the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 since January 2020. During late 2020, the emergence of variants that posed an increased risk to global public health prompted the characterisation of specific Variants of Interest (VOIs) and Variants of Concern (VOCs), in order to prioritise global monitoring and research, and ultimately to inform the ongoing response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

On November 25, 2021, about 23 months since the first reported case of Covid-19 and after a global estimated 260 million cases and 5·2 million deaths, a new SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VoC), omicron, was reported. Omicron emerged in a Covid-19-weary world. Already, people are frustrated and they are also angry with the governments for the restrictions imposed. Economy is in trouble and so are families across the globe. Life has already changed drastically and the virus has forced a much mutated lifestyle on us.

The struggle seems to be unending and the mirth and joy of life seems to have evaporated. Although previous VoCs emerged in a world in which natural immunity from Covid-19 infections was common, this fifth VoC has emerged at a time when vaccine immunity is increasing in the world.

The emergence of the alpha, beta, and delta SARS-CoV-2 VoCs were associated with new waves of infections, sometimes across the entire world. Why is the latest of more concern to us?" It is leading to increased transmission with a high viral load as acknowledged by experts in the field. The infection has gotten longer and is also known to be of a higher rate of reinfection.

If people are questioning the claims and the efficacy of vaccines, there is nothing wrong in it. After all, the pharma companies assured that their vaccines are the most effective. Some countries even refused to recognise Indian vaccines. Now they are talking about some more vaccines too. No one comes out clean on these matters. Maybe vaccination alone is not the solution. Prevention of the infection too is. But, the freedoms that we give to ourselves in our lives will not allow us the benefits of it because we detest foregoing our reckless lifestyles.

Let us look at the journey of Omicron first. The first sequenced omicron case was reported from Botswana on November 11, 2021, and a few days later another sequenced case was reported from Hong Kong in a traveller from South Africa.

Several sequences from South Africa followed, after initial identification that the new variant was associated with an S-gene target failure on a specific PCR assay. The earliest known case of omicron in South Africa was a patient diagnosed with COVID-19 on November 9, 2021. There could have been some more cases either around this time or prior to this one. What is of interest is the infection rate. In South Africa, the mean number of 280 Covid-19 cases per day in the week before the detection of omicron increased to 800 cases per day in the following week, partly attributed to increased surveillance.

What are the main concerns now? Whether this would be outside the purview of the vaccine protection. Some experts say no. Is it going to be more fatal? Again the answer seems to be – as of now – no. But, this will certainly have the potential to hit our economies again because of the high infection rate. Omicron is supposed to have more than 30 mutations, some of which just overlap with the other variants like alpha, beta, gamma or delta VoCs. It is the uncertainty that is more worrisome to us.

Available data suggests that (from South Africa) Omicron is affecting the younger people. As for clinical concerns or implications, nothing alarming has been reported so far. But, Covid-19 took several weeks to pose a challenge to us after infecting people.

Again, when people got vaccinated for Covid-19, the efficacy of the same got lowered with the onset of variants. In some cases, as The Lancet reports, the vaccine was only 70 per cent effective in preventing clinical infections for some variants, it decreased to 10 per cent for the beta variant in South Africa. However, Omicron's higher mutations make it uncertain for us to judge the vaccine efficacy in this case.

Humans have been battling viruses since before our species had even evolved into its modern form, science establishes. But we're a long way from winning the fight against viruses. In recent decades, several viruses have jumped from animals to humans and triggered sizable outbreaks, claiming thousands of lives. Covid-19 killed a few millions. Of course, man has killed many more in the wars. However, it is not death that is the constant all through. Man's struggle is. He evolves himself somehow to live on. Hope this time around too, he finds a way to live healthy.