SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant and the future of the pandemic

Variants of viruses emerge incessantly, and it is the nature's way of preserving a species, and in our context, the SARS-CoV-2 viral progeny. As Charles Darwin explained in his postulate of ‘survival of the fittest’, in order to survive, a living being must be ‘endowed with phenotypic characteristics which improve chances of survival and reproduction’. We see this explicitly in the case of SARS-CoV-2. The original strain of SARS-CoV-2, over a short period of 2.5 years has undergone many genetic reincarnations ranging from Alpha, to Lambda and the latest, the Omicron variant, which in turn has evolved into the intractable, sublineages BA.1 and BA.2 (Table 1).

: Vaccine effectiveness, after three doses of almost all current vaccines range from 85% to 90%;

: initial data are promising, but more research is required. Data from various sources.

The ravenous spread of the current global wave of Omicron has been phenomenal and breathtaking. For instance, there were 125 million Omicron infections per day worldwide in January 2022 alone, which is more than ten times the peak of the Delta wave of April 2021.¹ In a recent article in Lancet, Murray from the International Health Metrics and Evaluation Foundation in US, opined that: ‘The unprecedented level of infection suggests that more than 50% of the world will have been infected with Omicron variant between the end of November 2021 and the end of March 2022’. Although the number of global daily SARS-CoV-2 infections has increased over 30 times in such a short time, the reported number of overt COVID-19 cases has only increased only by six times. This is mainly due to the proportion of asymptomatic or mild Omicron infections, compared with previous variant infections.¹ Murray also opined that, due to such a widespread global infection, the end of the pandemic may be near.