Omicron is here, but no need to panic
Along with delta, this COVID-19 variant is a reminder to stay vigilant during the holidays.
It took less than a week, after the South African health minister alerted the world to the latest alarming COVID-19 mutation, for the variant to appear on American soil.
Now that it has, researchers are scrambling to answer the most pressing questions: How serious will the associated cases be? How effective will the vaccines that tens of millions of Americans have taken be against it?
After enduring this summer’s brutal surge linked to the delta variant, many in America and elsewhere had begun to exhale, feeling as if the end of this pandemic might just be nearing. Now, we’re on edge all over again.
For now, experts are sounding a note of caution: don’t panic yet. Dr. Peter Hotez told the Chronicle this week that we’ll know much more in a week or two, but so far there isn’t proof that this variant will be significantly worse, or even as bad, as what we’ve experienced so far. But that’s no reason to let our guard down.
“No matter what, the course of action is the same,” Hotez said. “Get the maximum. If you haven’t been vaccinated, get vaccinated. If you got two doses, get the third. If you’ve been infected and recovered, but weren’t vaccinated, get vaccinated on top of that. Vaccinate your kids. If you don’t, you’re asking for trouble.”
What we know already about the variant has been enough to alarm people, but Hotez says some of that has been overblown. For instance, the fact that it has spread so quickly around the world — to 25 countries already — is typical of all previous variants. Nor is it a surprise that it got to America so quickly.
Other aspects raise new concerns, and it’s why Hotez is so right to urge everyone to get as protected as possible.
Omicron’s spike protein — the part of the virus that attaches to our cells, hijacks their machinery and replicates itself — has more than 30 mutations that could diminish the efficacy of monoclonal antibody treatment.
Even as these risks are being evaluated, there are grounds for optimism, too. Texas is in a much better position to withstand a winter surge than it was a year ago. Yes, Texas still lags behind most other states and territories in vaccination rates, and that makes us all more vulnerable to a return to the worst days of the pandemic. But a majority of Texans age 5 or older — 69 percent — has received at least one shot. Vaccine demand in Texas ticked up during the delta surge, and the Food and Drug Administration finally gave authorization for elementary school-age children to get shots. That’s helped bring the numbers of serious cases, including fatal ones, down. The number of people hospitalized with COVID is at one of the lowest points since the beginning of the pandemic.
Major cities such as Houston have numerous free testing sites.
More help could soon be on the way, too. On Thursday, in anticipation of a possible omicron wave, President Joe Biden announced plans to stand up hundreds of vaccination sites, authorize insurance reimbursement for at-home COVID tests and require in-bound travelers to show proof of a negative test taken no more than 24 hours ahead of boarding a flight to the United States.
Biden must also speed up efforts to get the vaccines to low- and middle-income nations, and help with getting the vaccines into the arms of the people who live there. In South Africa, where omicron originated, only 25 percent of the population is fully immunized. So long as large portions of the globe remain essentially defenseless, the virus will continue to be a threat for all nations.
Closer to home, Gov. Greg Abbott should tell Texans how the state is preparing for a possible uptick in cases. A spokesman said he’s been fully briefed on the new variant and officials are watching it closely. It’s good news, too, that a new network of state and university labs dedicated to detecting variants launched this week.
Highlighting those efforts, and upping the volume on his push for Texans to get their shots, would be far more useful than taking cheap shots at Biden on Twitter, as he did last week. He bashed Biden for banning travel from South Africa while apparently ignoring the stream of South Africans illegally crossing our border. Never mind that of the 1 million apprehensions at the border this year, only 50 involved South Africans.
Omicron is the true threat — as of deadline, it was reported in three U.S. states — and Abbott needs to respond as a governor rather than a political candidate.
Government action notwithstanding, the onus is still largely on each of us to act responsibly. Every Texan should get the shots — all of them — that are needed. The desperate desire we all have to return to normal life, leave the mask in our car at the grocery store, to let up on constant hand-washing and sanitizer applications is so very human. We all want this pandemic to be over. But it’s not — not yet. The only way it ever will be is for each of us to do our part.