I don't know if it is the man-bites-dog issue of calling attention to unexpected situations, but it seems that most of what I've heard so far of Omicron infections in the news are with vaccinated people. Maybe the vaccinated are more out and about and traveling. So the vaccinated subset of the population is being more exposed.
Israel #1 and #2 were vaccinated (AZ for one; 3x Pfizer for the other). Both had traveled recently. Severity of infection not described.
Israel #3 is a Cardiologist, with 3 Pfizer vaccinations, that got COVID either at a professional meeting in London, or as he traveled back to Israel.
US #1 was vaccinated and recently returned to San Francisco from South Africa.
US #2 was vaccinated and recently returned to Minnesota from NYC.
That is obviously a small set. But it is enough to make me concerned that the reports are true that the vaccination may be less effective against catching this variant. However, all of the cases described were mild for the vaccinated patient, so maybe that's the silver lining.
BUT, it looks like one (unreviewed) study suggests Omicron gets past natural immunity more easily, causing higher reinfection rates:
Increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection associated with emergence of the Omicron variant in South Africa
By the way, I thought this was interesting from the article on US #1:
Israel #1 and #2 were vaccinated (AZ for one; 3x Pfizer for the other). Both had traveled recently. Severity of infection not described.
Israel #3 is a Cardiologist, with 3 Pfizer vaccinations, that got COVID either at a professional meeting in London, or as he traveled back to Israel.
US #1 was vaccinated and recently returned to San Francisco from South Africa.
US #2 was vaccinated and recently returned to Minnesota from NYC.
That is obviously a small set. But it is enough to make me concerned that the reports are true that the vaccination may be less effective against catching this variant. However, all of the cases described were mild for the vaccinated patient, so maybe that's the silver lining.
BUT, it looks like one (unreviewed) study suggests Omicron gets past natural immunity more easily, causing higher reinfection rates:
Increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection associated with emergence of the Omicron variant in South Africa
Quote:Population-level evidence suggests that the Omicron variant is associated with substantial ability to evade immunity from prior infection. In contrast, there is no population-wide epidemiological evidence of immune escape associated with the Beta or Delta variants. This finding has important implications for public health planning, particularly in countries like South Africa with high rates of immunity from prior infection. Urgent questions remain regarding whether Omicron is also able to evade vaccine-induced immunity and the potential implications of reduced immunity to infection on protection against severe disease and death.
By the way, I thought this was interesting from the article on US #1:
Quote:The suspect sample was confirmed overnight, with stunning speed. Chiu received the sample at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, then ran a very fast molecular test that looks for one of the variant’s mutations for the spike protein, called a spike “gene dropout.†The result, obtained in only two hours, signaled the possible detection of omicron — but it wasn’t conclusive.
Proof was obtained after sequencing of the viral genome with a pocket-sized tool made by Oxford Nanopore Technologies.
The lab was able to confirm the sample was omicron within five hours, and the entire genome was assembled within eight hours, Chiu said.
“So at 4 a.m. last night, we actually had assembled most of the genome, and we were able to conclusively demonstrate that this was, indeed, infection from the omicron variant,†Chiu said.