Written by Tina Nasiri

Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash

While COVID-19 cases continue to rise, a new variant, first identified in South Africa, has been spreading throughout the world. Although restrictions for travelling to and from South African countries have been put in place by many nations worldwide, Omicron has been detected in more than 23 countries. Community transmission is already taking place, as cases without any travel connection to South Africa are being increasingly found. 

The CEO of Moderna stated that COVID-19 vaccines today are not expected to be as effective against the new variant as they are against the original virus and previous variants. However, according to vaccine-makers, getting a better sense of how effective current vaccines are against Omicron can take a few more weeks. With over 30 mutations in the virus’ spike protein, which is a part of the virus that attaches to cells and leads to infection, antibodies from a vaccine/Coronavirus infection in the past might not be able to identify and prevent people from being infected by Omicron. 

Now, people travelling from different countries into Canada, other than those from the United States, are required to be tested once they land at the airport. This applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated travellers and requires them to quarantine until their test result comes out as negative. For updates on this variant, stay tuned to the news in the coming weeks.