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A variant of the Covid-19 coronavirus initially identified and reported in South Africa has been named Omicron and new cases are already being identified in different parts of the world. Scientists in South Africa have undertaken sequencing on the virus, and so far, fifty mutations have been observed overall and more than 30 on the spike protein. This is the target of most vaccines and the key the virus uses to infect the body's cells. Some of the mutations have been seen before in other variants, which gives some insight into their likely role in this variant.

Jonathan Ball, Professor of Virology at the University of Nottingham, says that it is too early to say if Omicron will be more transmissible or generate more serious symptoms than previous variants. He warns against jumping to conclusions as evidence so far has been anecdotal rather than concrete evidence. However, he believes that current vaccines will continue to be effective.

"A vaccine will generate lots of different antibodies, and lots of different T-cells - cells that boost the immunity and destroy virus-infected cells - and these target different parts of the virus. It's incredibly difficult for the virus to escape all of them, so we would expect the vaccines to hold up and be effective, but we don't know if the vaccine will prevent serious disease."

Photo: A vaccine is prepared in a mass testing site in east Jerusalem, November 2021 Credit: EPA

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