Corona has knocked again in the whole world with a new look. The name of this New Variant Is Omicron. It is being said that it can also eliminate the effect of the vaccine. Those who have got both doses of the corona vaccine also need to be careful about the Omicron variant. The biggest reason for this is that this Omicron(India) is mutating abnormally. Mutation means changing its form depending on the environment. According to the information, a total of 50 mutations have occurred in this variant so far. Of these, 32 mutations occurred in the spike protein alone: In the picture of coronavirus, you must have seen that the prickly-like structure is visible; we call it to spike protein. To combat the virus, most vaccines attack its spike protein because the virus enters the body of any human through this spike protein.
Omicron Variant In India
How does vaccine work?
The coronavirus vaccine we have taken enhances our body’s immune system. Our body’s immune system identifies the spike protein of the virus. When the virus tries to enter our body, our grown immune system recognizes the virus and starts fighting it. Most of the vaccines used worldwide are based on mRNA and vectors. These include vaccines like India’s Covishield, Russia’s Sputnik, America’s Pfizer. All these vaccines attack the spike proteins of the virus and defeat them and protect our body from infection. But when the protein structure of the virus changes due to mutation, then our vaccine becomes ineffective. It is being assumed that the vaccine we have taken cannot stop the effect of this new variant of corona from entering the body.
However, there are also reports that it will not take much time to change the structure of the existing vaccine. This work can be completed within a few months. A US company said that the vaccine might not be completely effective on Omicron variant. For this, they will change the structure of the vaccine, which will eliminate the effects of Omicron. Indian Council of Medical Research said that the Co-vaccine might prove effective against the newer variant as the vaccine is made from inactivated cells of the virus. It not only works on the spike protein of the virus, but it works to obliterate the virus.
Will the existing vaccine be effective?
So far, about 124 doses of the corona vaccine have been vaccinated in India. There are different figures for the vaccine Covishield, Co-vaccine, and Sputnik. Now it comes to point that how many cases have increased in South Africa. It is because only 6% of people in South Africa have been vaccinated so far. That country did not have much vaccines available. It was reported in the news that some people in South Africa had been infected with Omicron variant on 24 November. A few days later, the WHO officially confirmed it and placed it in the list of variants of concern.
Omicron is slowly rolling out all over the world. Its cases have started getting in India too. However, the good thing is that it cannot hide from Rt-PCR. Several issues were observed In The Delta Variant, which cheated the Rt-PCR test. One good thing about Omicron (India) is that no severe symptoms are seen in the infected patient. No patient has seen any difficulty in breathing so far. Most patients include fatigue, muscle pain, fever, cold, and increased pulse rate. But a study conducted in Italy found that this variant is 7 times more dangerous than the delta variant.
It is not yet clear how frightening Omicron can take in the future. The government should not wait for its horrific form but should start preparing to deal with it from now on. Right now experts from different countries are talking a lot about this subject. Right now, we all need to be careful and Alert, like wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, etc.