That's not wrong, but this time it was scientists who were ringing the bell.
This write-up [1] explains the particular mutations in Omicron in more detail. Basically, Omicron appears to be a perfect storm of various concerning mutations that had appeared in individual strains before - now all assembled into one strain.
Add to that a sudden, unusual spike in infections right where the variant is found and I guess things can start to look scary for a moment.
Of course, it's still guesswork and even though the genome looks scary, the real-world effects may be mild.
Dr. Jeffrey Barrett listed the mutations in a figure below. [...] Of these, some mutations have properties to escape antibody protection (i.e. outsmart our vaccines and vaccine-induced immunity). There are several mutations association with increased transmissibility. There is a mutation associated with increased infectivity. This slide, from a presentation yesterday from the South Africa Health Ministry, summarized B.1.1.529 nicely.
> Medical doctors are not scientists.
What?
> Remember, the WHO said closing borders wouldn't help, and how dead wrong they were.
This write-up [1] explains the particular mutations in Omicron in more detail. Basically, Omicron appears to be a perfect storm of various concerning mutations that had appeared in individual strains before - now all assembled into one strain.
Add to that a sudden, unusual spike in infections right where the variant is found and I guess things can start to look scary for a moment.
Of course, it's still guesswork and even though the genome looks scary, the real-world effects may be mild.
[1] https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/new-concernin...