COVID-19 New Variant Uncertainty, But So Far Mild in Vaccinated
by Tonya Breaux-Shropshire, PhD, DNP, FNP, MPH | Blog | Covid-19 new variant uncertainty, but so far mild symptoms without hospitalization have occurred so far. The new COVID-19 variant (B1.1.529) called Omicron was first discovered in South Africa on November 11, 2021, some experts suspect. However, some experts believe it was first spotted in Europe. South Africa has a low vaccination rate (less than 38%). Isreal, Germany, Belgian, Italy, and France have detected the Omicron variant. How Bad Is It? There are 32 spike proteins and 50 different mutations on the Omicron variant and this is more than the Alpha and Delta variants. The uncertainty of how harmful (more hospitalizations and more deadly) this variant is so far is the problem we are facing currently. It may take up to…