An Editorial overview and Perspective: Can the attenuated Omicron variant of Covid-19 virus resolve the pandemic in 2022?

Abstract

The highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in late 2021 in South Africa and has now been found to represent over 70% of current infections in the USA and other Westernized nations. Its rapid spread is likely due at least in part to its apparent ability to escape neutralizing antibodies developed from previous exposure to covid and its variant subspecies. Currently over 1.35 million new COVID-19 cases were reported in the USA on Monday Jan 10th, 2022, accounting for the highest daily total for any country in the world since the onset of the pandemic. Among those individuals recently infected with the Omicron variant are included many previously vaccinated individuals and others who have gained natural immunity having recovered from COVID-19. Although the Omicron variant has been determined to be up to five-fold more contagious than its covid progenitor. it has a larger but overlapping molecular genome and the apparent capability to evade antibodies formed following prior exposure. To date it has resulted in only milder non-life-threatening illness compared to earlier forms of the virus, and consequently no deaths directly caused by the Omicron variant have been reported to date in contrast to more severe often dire outcomes for earlier forms of COVID-19. Thus, the question arises, can the Omicron variant produce a more broad-spectrum immune response to COVID-19 and its variants, and generate a longer-lasting immunity than current global vaccination and public health efforts, and finally, compared to earlier variant of COVID-19, will Omicron, should it become endemic or fully pandemic, finally contribute to the defeat of the COVID-19 pandemic in those regions where it may remain prevalent in 2022 due to its ability to result in only milder symptoms of covid-related illness while developing a broader based spectrum of protective neutralizing antibodies ?