Worried scientists in South Africa are scrambling to combat the lightning spread across the country of the new and highly transmissible omicron COVID-19 variant as the world grapples with its emergence.
In the space of two weeks, the omicron variant has sent
South Africa from a period of low transmission to rapid growth of new confirmed
cases. The country’s numbers are still relatively low, with 2,828 new confirmed
cases recorded Friday, but omicron’s speed in infecting young South Africans
has alarmed health professionals.
“We’re seeing a marked change in the demographic profile of
patients with COVID-19,” Rudo Mathivha, head of the intensive care unit at
Soweto’s Baragwanath Hospital, told an online press briefing.
“Young people, in their 20s to just over their late 30s, are
coming in with moderate to severe disease, some needing intensive care. About
65% are not vaccinated and most of the rest are only half-vaccinated,” said
Mathivha. “I’m worried that as the numbers go up, the public health care
facilities will become overwhelmed.”
She said urgent preparations are needed to enable public
hospitals to cope with a potential large influx of patients needing intensive
care.
“We know we have a new variant,” said Mathivha. “The worst
case scenario is that it hits us like delta ... we need to have critical care
beds ready.”
What looked like a cluster infection among some university
students in Pretoria ballooned into hundreds of new cases and then thousands,
first in the capital city and then to nearby Johannesburg, South Africa’s
largest city.
Studying the surge, scientists identified the new variant
that diagnostic tests indicate is likely responsible for as many as 90% of the
new cases, according to South Africa’s health officials. Early studies show
that it has a reproduction rate of 2 — meaning that every person infected by it
is likely to spread it to two other people.
The new variant has a high number of mutations that appear
to make it more transmissible and help it evade immune responses. The World
Health Organization looked at the data on Friday and named the variant omicron,
under its system of using Greek letters, calling it a highly transmissible
variant of concern.
“It’s a huge concern. We all are terribly concerned about
this virus,” Professor Willem Hanekom, director of the Africa Health Research
Institute, told The Associated Press.
“This variant is mostly in Gauteng province, the
Johannesburg area of South Africa. But we’ve got clues from diagnostic tests
... that suggest that this variant is already all over South Africa,” said
Hanekom, who is also co-chair of the South African COVID Variant Research
Consortium.
“The scientific reaction from within South Africa is that we
need to learn as much as soon as possible. We know precious little,” he said.
“For example, we do not know how virulent this virus is, which means how bad is
this disease that it causes?”
A key factor is vaccination. The new variant appears to be
spreading most quickly among those who are unvaccinated. Currently, only about
40% of adult South Africans are vaccinated, and the number is much lower among
those in the 20 to 40-year-old age group.
South Africa has nearly 20 million doses of vaccines — made
by Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson — but the numbers of people getting
vaccines is about 120,000 per day, far below the government’s target of 300,000
per day.
As scientists try to learn more about omicron, the people of
South Africa can take measures to protect themselves against it, said Hanekom.
“This is a unique opportunity. There’s still time for people
who did not get vaccinated to go and get the vaccine, and that will provide
some protection, we believe, against this infection, especially protection
against severe infection, severe disease and death,” he said. “So I would call
on people to vaccinate if they can.”
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