Can Omicron outpace Delta COVID-19 variant? Scientists seek answers

Scientists are racing to understand if the Omicron COVID-19 variant has the potential to outpace the globally dominant Delta variant.

As scientists race to understand the consequences of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, one of the most important questions is whether this new version of the coronavirus can outrun the globally dominant Delta variant.

The World Health Organization on Friday designated Omicron a “variant of concern” just days after the variant was first reported in southern Africa. The WHO said it is coordinating with many researchers worldwide to better understand how the variant will impact the COVID-19 pandemic, with new findings expected within “days and weeks.”

Many questions remain, including whether Omicron will evade vaccine protection and whether it will cause more serious illness. But such characteristics would be far less concerning if the new variant remains relatively contained.

Several disease experts interviewed by Reuters said there are strong grounds already for believing that Omicron will render vaccines less effective. Omicron shares several key mutations with two previous variants, Beta and Gamma that made them less vulnerable to vaccines. In addition, Omicron has 26 unique mutations, many of them in regions targeted by vaccine antibodies.

Within months, however, Delta spread far more quickly than any of its predecessors.

“So the question, really, is how transmissible Omicron is relative to Delta. That’s the major, major, major thing that we need to know,” said John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.

It is also likely to be one of the last to be answered, experts said. South African officials raised the alarm about Omicron after identifying just dozens of cases of the variant.

Scientists will be closely watching whether cases caused by Omicron reported on public databases start to supplant those caused by Delta. That could take three to six weeks, depending on how fast the variant moves, experts said.