Omicron
U.S. announces first recorded Omicron-related death
An unvaccinated man living in Harris County, Texas, is believed to be the first victim having died from the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in the United States, local media reported Monday.
"Sad to report the first local fatality from the Omicron variant of COVID-19. A man in his 50s from the eastern portion of Harris County who was not vaccinated," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo tweeted earlier in the day.
The victim had an underlying health condition, she added.
Read: Omicron sweeps across nation, now 73% of new US COVID cases
Reports from ABC News and Fox News said this is believed to be the first recorded Omicron-related death in the United States.
Omicron accounts for 73.2 percent of new cases across the country in the week that ended on Dec. 18, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.
Queen Elizabeth II to skip Christmas trip amid omicron surge
Queen Elizabeth II has decided not to spend Christmas at the royal Sandringham estate in eastern England amid concerns about the fast-spreading omicron variant.
The palace said Monday that the 95-year-old queen will spend the holidays at Windsor Castle, west of London, where she has stayed for most of the pandemic.
Other members of the royal family are expected to visit over the Christmas period, with precautions taken against spreading the virus.
Also read: Queen Elizabeth II won't attend climate conference in person
Coronavirus infections are surging in Britain — up 60% in a week — as omicron replaced delta as the dominant variant, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said more new restrictions may have to be introduced to slow its spread. His health minister has refused to rule out imposing new measures before Christmas.
For years, members of Britain's extended royal family have spent the holidays at Sandringham, where crowds gather to watch them attend the local church on Christmas Day.
The queen has cut down on travel and work since spending a night in the hospital in October and being told to rest by her doctors. She has since undertaken light duties including virtual audiences with diplomats and weekly conversations with the prime minister.
Also read: Queen beams as she returns to Ascot after COVID-19 hiatus
This is the queen’s first Christmas since the death of her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, in April at 99. The royal couple spent their final Christmas together at Windsor last year.
Global Covid cases top 275 million
The overall number of global Covid cases has now crossed 275 million amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in several western countries.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 275,438,382 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,360,382 Tuesday morning.
The US has recorded 51,097,528 cases so far and more than 807,945 people have died from the virus in the country to date, the university data shows.
Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the US, accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday, reported AP.
Also read: Omicron sweeps across nation, now 73% of new US COVID cases
Meanwhile, the total number of coronavirus cases in the UK mounted to 11,518,116, while the total fatalities reached 147,722 according to figures released Tuesday.
Coronavirus infections are surging in Britain — up 60% in a week — as Omicron replaced Delta as the dominant variant, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said more new restrictions may have to be introduced to slow its spread.
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,215,856 cases as of Tuesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 617,905.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,747,913 on Monday while the total death toll mounted to 477,554.
Moreover, 19 new cases from five states took the Omicron tally in India to 174 as of Tuesday.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported two more Covid-linked deaths, with the health authorities logging 260 fresh cases in 24 hours till Monday morning.
The detection of the new cases after testing 19,955 samples took the daily case positivity rate to 1.30 percent during the period, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 28,050 while the caseload mounted to 15,81,343.
Of the 20 deaths recorded from December 13 to December, 19, 20 percent received Covid shots while 80 percent did not, the directorate said.
Both the latest deceased were men, aged between 61 and 70, one from Dhaka division and another from Rangpur.
Also read: UK health boss: COVID-19 rules could tighten by Christmas
Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 percent during the period.
Besides, the recovery rate remained steady at 97.75 percent with the recovery of 236 more patients during the 24-hour period.
On December 9, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing.
The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.
Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 5 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
Boosters key to fight omicron, lot still to learn
The new omicron variant took only a few weeks to live up to dire predictions about how hugely contagious it is but scientists don’t yet know if it causes more severe disease even as the world faces exploding cases just before Christmas.
“Everything is riskier now because omicron is so much more contagious,” said Dr. S. Wesley Long, who directs the testing lab at Houston Methodist Hospital — and over the past week has canceled numerous plans to avoid exposure.
Omicron now is the dominant variant in the U.S., federal health officials said Monday, accounting for about three-quarters of new infections last week.
The speed that it's outpacing the also very contagious delta variant is astonishing public health officials. In three weeks, omicron now makes up 80% of new symptomatic cases diagnosed by Houston Methodist’s testing sites. It took the delta variant three months to reach that level, Long said.
Also read: Moderna: Initial booster data shows good results on omicron
The mutant's ability to spread faster and evade immunity came at a bad time — right as travel increased and many people let down their guard. But what the omicron wave will mean for the world is still unclear because so many questions remain unanswered.
Here’s the latest on what’s known and what’s still to learn about omicron.
HOW MUCH PROTECTION DO VACCINES OFFER?
Vaccines in the U.S. and around the world do not offer as much protection against omicron as they have against previous versions of the coronavirus. However, vaccines still help — a lot. Lab tests show while two doses may not be strong enough to prevent infection, a booster shot of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine produces virus-fighting antibodies capable of tackling omicron.
Antibody levels naturally drop over time, and a booster revved them back up again, by 25 times for Pfizer’s extra shot and 37 times for Moderna’s. No one knows exactly what level is high enough — or how long it will be before antibody levels begin dropping again.
After a booster, the protection against an omicron infection still appears about 20% less than protection against the delta variant, said Dr. Egon Ozer of Northwestern University.
But if the virus gets past that first line of defense, the vaccinated have additional layers of protection.
“The vaccines are going to protect you against severe disease, hospitalization and death,” said Houston Methodist's Long. “And that’s really the most important thing.”
Those extra defenses include T cells that mobilize to beat back the virus, plus memory cells that, once reactivated, race to make more and stronger antibodies.
WHAT ABOUT NATURAL IMMUNITY?
A prior infection doesn’t seem to offer much protection against an omicron infection although, like with vaccination, it may reduce the chances of severe illness.
In South Africa, where omicron already has spread widely, scientists reported a jump in reinfections that they hadn’t seen when two previous mutants, including delta, moved through the country.
In Britain, a report from the Imperial College of London on Friday found the risk of reinfection from omicron was five times higher compared to the earlier delta variant.
Health experts say anyone who’s survived a bout of COVID-19 still should get vaccinated, because the combination generally offers stronger protection.
WHY ELSE DOES OMICRON SPREAD SO FAST?
Scientists are trying to decode the dozens of mutations that omicron carries to figure out what else is going on. Researchers in Hong Kong recently reported hints that omicron may multiply more quickly in the airway than delta did, although not as efficiently deep in the lungs.
What scientists can't measure is human behavior: Many places were relaxing restrictions, winter forced gatherings indoors and travel has jumped right as omicron began spreading.
IS OMICRON CAUSING MILDER ILLNESS?
It’s still too early to know — especially given that if the vaccinated get a breakthrough infection, it should be milder than if omicron attacks the unvaccinated.
Early reports from South Africa suggested milder illness but doctors were unsure whether that’s because the population is fairly young — or that many retained some protection from a recent delta infection.
And that British study found no evidence that omicron has been milder than delta in Britain, even with young adults — who would be expected to have milder illness — having higher rates of infection with omicron.
"There’s a hint, and I think many of us are hopeful, that omicron will be less severe. But I don’t think we can bet the farm on that. We’re still talking about SARS CoV-2, a virus that has killed millions of people,” said Dr. Jacob Lemieux, who monitors variants for a research collaboration led by Harvard Medical School.
Also read: Booster at least 80% effective against severe Omicron
WHO’S MOST AT RISK?
Based on the behavior of other variants, “if you’re older, if you have underlying conditions, if you’re obese, you’re more likely to have severe disease. I don’t think it’s going to be any different” than other variants, said Dr. Carlos del Rio of Emory University.
But even if you don’t get very sick, an omicron infection could certainly ruin the holidays. Experts agree that in addition to getting vaccinated and boosted, it's wise to get back to the basics of protection: Wear masks indoors, avoid crowds and keep your distance.
Omicron sweeps across nation, now 73% of new US COVID cases
Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron's share of infections in only one week.
In much of the country, it's even higher. Omicron is responsible for an estimated 90% or more of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. The national rate suggests that more than 650,000 omicron infections occurred in the U.S. last week.
Also read: Omicron may sideline two leading drugs against COVID-19
Since the end of June, the delta variant had been the main version causing U.S. infections. As recently as the end of November, more than 99.5% of coronaviruses were delta, according to CDC data.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the new numbers reflect the kind of growth seen in other countries.
“These numbers are stark, but they’re not surprising,” she said.
Scientists in Africa first sounded the alarm about omicron less than a month ago and on Nov. 26 the World Health Organization designated it as a “variant of concern." The mutant has since shown up in about 90 countries.
Much about the omicron variant remains unknown, including whether it causes more or less severe illness. Early studies suggest the vaccinated will need a booster shot for the best chance at preventing omicron infection but even without the extra dose, vaccination still should offer strong protection against severe illness and death.
“All of us have a date with omicron,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “If you’re going to interact with society, if you’re going to have any type of life, omicron will be something you encounter, and the best way you can encounter this is to be fully vaccinated.”
Also read: UK health boss: COVID-19 rules could tighten by Christmas
Adalja said he was not surprised by the CDC data showing omicron overtaking delta in the U.S., given what was seen in South Africa, the U.K. and Denmark. He predicted spread over the holidays, including breakthrough infections among the vaccinated and serious complications among the unvaccinated that could stress hospitals already burdened by delta.
Dr. Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said other countries had seen omicron's fast growth, but the U.S. data showed “a remarkable jump in such a short time.”
Topol also said it’s unclear how much milder omicron really is compared with other variants.
“That’s the big uncertainty now,” Topol said. “We have to count on it being a lot of hospitalizations and a lot severe disease from omicron.”
CDC’s estimates are based on thousands of coronavirus specimens collected each week through university and commercial laboratories and state and local health departments. Scientists analyze their genetic sequences to determine which versions of the COVID-19 viruses are most abundant.
On Monday, the CDC revised its estimate for omicron cases for the week that ended Dec. 11, after analyzing more samples. About 13% of the cases that week were from omicron, not the 3% previously reported. The week before, omicron accounted for just 0.4% of cases.
CDC officials said they do not yet have estimates of how many hospitalizations or deaths are due to omicron.
Though there remain a lot of new infections caused by the delta variant, “I anticipate that over time that delta will be crowded out by omicron," Walensky said.
Moderna: Initial booster data shows good results on omicron
Moderna said Monday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine should offer protection against the rapidly spreading omicron variant.
Moderna said lab tests showed the half-dose booster shot increased by 37 times the level of so-called neutralizing antibodies able to fight omicron.
And a full-dose booster was even stronger, triggering an 83-fold jump in antibody levels, although with an increase in the usual side effects, the company said. While half-dose shots are being used for most Moderna boosters, a full-dose third shot has been recommended for people with weakened immune systems.
Also read: Omicron may sideline two leading drugs against COVID-19
Moderna announced the preliminary laboratory data in a press release and it hasn’t yet undergone scientific review. But testing by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, announced last week by Dr. Anthony Fauci, found a similar jump.
Pfizer’s testing likewise found its COVID-19 vaccine triggered a similarly big jump in omicron-fighting antibodies. The vaccines made by Pfizer and by Moderna, both made with mRNA technology, are used by many countries around the world to fight the coronavirus.
Also read: WHO: Omicron detected in 89 countries, cases doubling fast
Omicron-affected women cricketers test negative
Two Bangladeshi women cricketers, who suffered COVID Omicron variant, are well now and tested negative, the chief physician of BCB confirmed on Monday.
Bangladesh women cricket team has recently toured Zimbabwe to take part in the ICC Women's World Cup Qualifiers. The event was called off midway due to the surge of the Omicron variant of COVID.
Bangladesh women team has successfully qualified for the next 50-over World Cup— their first in the history.
Also read: Omicron also enters Bangladesh; first 2 cases detected
After coming back to Dhaka, they were isolated in a hotel in the capital. On December 6, the health department confirmed that two women cricketers are COVID positive. Five days later, on December 11, the health department said both are affected by Omicron.
Returning negative in the latest COVID test, both the cricketers are free to get out of the isolation centre of a Dhaka hospital and go home.
Another member of the women team is positive with the Delta variant of COVID and yet to test negative. According to BCB sources, the person is doing well and will undergo a COVID test this week. A negative result will allow the person to leave the isolation centre as well.
Also read: All Bangladeshi players test negative for Covid-19 in New Zealand
Omicron may sideline two leading drugs against COVID-19
As strained U.S. hospitals brace for a new surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the fast-spreading omicron variant, doctors are warning of yet another challenge: the two standard drugs they’ve used to fight infections are unlikely to work against the new strain.
For more than a year antibody drugs from Regeneron and Eli Lilly have been the go-to treatments for early COVID-19, thanks to their ability to head off severe disease and keep patients out of the hospital.
But both drugmakers recently warned that laboratory testing suggests their therapies will be much less potent against omicron, which contains dozens of mutations that make it harder for antibodies to attack the virus. And while the companies say they can quickly develop new omicron-targeting antibodies, those aren’t expected to launch for at least several months.
A third antibody from British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline appears to be the best positioned to fight omicron. But Glaxo’s drug is not widely available in the U.S., accounting for a small portion of the millions of doses purchased and distributed by the federal government. U.S. health officials are now rationing scarce drug supplies to states.
Read:Fauci says omicron variant is 'just raging around the world'
“I think there’s going to be a shortage,” said Dr. Jonathan Li, director of the Harvard/Brigham Virology Specialty Laboratory. “We’re down to one FDA-authorized monoclonal antibody” with omicron because of the reduced effectiveness of Regeneron and Lilly’s drugs.
The delta variant still accounts for more than 95% of estimated U.S. cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But agency leaders say omicron is spreading faster than any past variant and will become the dominant strain nationwide within weeks.
Delivered by injection or infusion, antibodies are laboratory-made versions of human proteins that help the immune system fight off viruses and other infections.
Glaxo’s drug, developed with Vir Biotechnology, was specifically formulated to bind to a part of the virus that is less likely to mutate, according to the companies. Early studies of laboratory-simulated omicron by the drugmakers and outside researchers show promising results.
Supply of the drug is “extremely limited, and additional doses of the product will not be available until the week of January 3rd,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in an statement posted online.
After pausing distribution last month to conserve supply, HHS is now shipping 55,000 doses of the drug, called sotrovimab, to state health departments, with the doses arriving as early as Tuesday. An additional 300,000 are expected in January.
The agency said it is distributing the drug to states based on their levels of infections and hospitalizations.
HHS recommends states conserve the drug for the highest risk patients who are most likely to have omicron infections, either based on laboratory testing that can identify the variant or elevated levels of omicron spread in local communities, identified as 20% and higher.
High-risk patients include seniors and those with serious health problems, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes and immune-system disorders.
Prior to the pause in shipments, Glaxo’s drug accounted for about 10% of the 1.8 million antibody doses distributed to state health officials between mid-September and late November, according to federal figures.
London-based Glaxo says it is on track to produce 2 million doses by May, under contracts with the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Japan and several other countries. The company is working to add more manufacturing capacity next year.
The loss of two leading antibody therapies puts even more focus on a pair of highly anticipated antiviral pills that U.S. regulators are expected to soon authorize.
The drugs from Pfizer and Merck would be the first treatments Americans can take at home to head off severe disease. Pfizer’s drug in particular has shown a powerful effect, curbing hospitalizations and deaths by nearly 90% in high-risk patients.
“If it’s rolled out effectively this has a real big potential,” to make up for antibody treatments, said Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University. “That’s an immediate place where these antivirals could minimize the impact of omicron.”
Read: WHO: Omicron detected in 89 countries, cases doubling fast
Still, initial supplies of both drugs are expected to be limited.
The shrinking toolbox of treatments is a painful reminder that the virus still has the upper hand in the U.S., even with more than 200 million Americans fully vaccinated.
Scientists around the world are racing to understand omicron, including whether it causes more or less severe disease and how easily it evades protection from prior infection, vaccination, and antibody drugs.
“We’re certainly going to see hospitalizations rise,” said Dr. James Cutrell of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. “If we have a lack of antibodies that’s certainly going to contribute to that many more patients needing to be in the hospital.”
Current booster effective against Omicron: Health Minister
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Sunday said the booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine will work against the newly emerged variant Omicron.
“We’ve information that Omicron can largely be prevented by taking booster doses,” he said while inaugurating the trial administration of booster doses at Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) in Mohakhali in the morning.
As the government has enough stock of vaccines, the decision to administer the third booster dose has been taken, said Minister Maleque.
“Anyone who has taken the first two doses of any Covid-19 vaccines is eligible to receive the Pfizer booster shot,” he said.
Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh rolls out booster dose in Dhaka
Above 60 senior citizens, patients with comorbidities and frontliners will get the booster shots on a priority basis, the minister said.
He said: “As per our plan to bring 70 per cent of the population under vaccination, we need to vaccinate 12 crore people by April, 2020.”
WHO: Omicron detected in 89 countries, cases doubling fast
The omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in 89 countries, and COVID-19 cases involving the variant are doubling every 1.5 to 3 days in places with community transmission and not just infections acquired abroad, the World Health Organization said Saturday.
Omicron's "substantial growth advantage" over the delta variant means it is likely to soon overtake delta as the dominant form of the virus in countries where the new variant is spreading locally, the U.N. health agency said.
Read: Booster at least 80% effective against severe Omicron