Many people focus on worst-case scenarios in the days following the discovery of a new variant. Headlines frequently give the impression that the pandemic is about to reoccur, with vaccines powerless to stop the latest strain. 

As with the previous Delta and Alpha variants, the same two questions arise. Is the Omicron virus readily transmissible? Does it produce more severe illness among infected people?

Viruses, according to scientists, frequently evolve in ways that allow them to thrive. A virus can spread by becoming more contagious; however, becoming more severe can have the opposite effect because more of a virus’s hosts can die before infecting others.

The early data suggests Omicron is not causing more severe illnesses than the previous Delta strain. However, it does appear to be more contagious, even among vaccinated people.

The Experts

According to Professor Barry Schoub, a South African virologist who advises the country’s government, Omicron cases have tended to be “mild to moderate,” Still, Schoub emphasizes, because the virus is still in its early stages, “we have to wait and see.” 

The head of the intensive care unit at a hospital in Soweto, South Africa, Dr. Rudo Mathivha, highlighted that severe cases have been centered on people who were not fully vaccinated. 

There is no doubt about Omicron’s uncertainty. Perhaps the virus will turn out to be worse than the early warning signs suggest, but assuming the worst about each new variant is neither accurate nor sensible.

 “Some of today’s headlines/commentary re. new variant are really not helping people’s (already fragile) mental health),” As Dr. Raghib Ali, an epidemiologist at the University of Cambridge wrote. 

“Of course we should take it seriously, but there is no plausible scenario that this variant is going to take us back to square one (ie. the situation pre-vaccines). Dr. Ali added.