Omicron Quick Facts and Speculations
March 1, 2022
How does Omicron Spread?:
As Omicron is a COVID-19 variant, the virus will spread through airborne droplets such as sneezing or coughing. The main thing to know about Omicron and how it spreads is that it is more transmissible than previous variants, making it more contagious. Omicron can be spread by everyone even if you’re vaccinated.
Omicron Symptoms:
With Omicron, scientists are finding the symptoms are much different than previous variants and can vary between age, vaccination status, health status, and if you’ve been infected with COVID previously. If you are vaccinated, it is found that symptoms are mild, but if you are unvaccinated, the symptoms are more severe when compared to vaccinated individuals.
However, the most common symptoms for the Omicron variant are cough, fatigue, congestion and runny nose. It has been found that fewer people lost their taste and smell compared to other COVID-19 variants. These symptoms can last for a couple of weeks.
Luckily, when looking at past variants, vaccinated or not, the symptoms are less deadly. Preliminary data has shown and suggested that Omicron is a more mild variant.
Vaccines:
Scientists are still learning more about how much protection COVID-19 Vaccine and booster shots protect against Omicron. But it has been observed that if you are vaccinated and up to date with boosters, you are less likely to have a severe illness.
The age groups who can get the COVID-19 Vaccine are ages 5+, and everyone who is 12+ should get up to date with their third dose.
What Scientist’s think:
Overall, scientists expect a period of COVID-19 quietness with this omicron variant. Scientists have claimed that the Omicron variant is a huge turning point in the pandemic. This is because Omicron is more contagious but less severe, giving the population more immunity than before. Scientists think this will help the population reach herd immunity and speculate that we might be seeing the light at the end of one long dark tunnel very soon.
Resources:
https://www.science.org/content/article/after-omicron-some-scientists-foresee-period-quiet
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/omicron-variant.html
https://health.ucdavis.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-information/omicron-variant
Picture from:
https://joinzoe.com/learn/omicron-symptoms
