Covid Variant Omicron Has Now Produced Its Own Variant

Ever since the pandemic started, people have been ready for it to be over. However, with the discovery of a new variant in Washington and death rates exponentially rising, the Coronavirus is reminding us that it is still alive and well.

Since the initial Coronavirus appeared in November of 2019, there have been five variants: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron.

Omicron was the most recently discovered variant and was first seen in November of 2021. The Omicron variant presented more cold-like symptoms, including sore throat, sneezing and runny nose. Other variants commonly presented fever, cough, and loss of taste and smell.

Omicron’s cold-like symptoms makes it harder to distinguish from other variants and it quickly rose to be the most common covid seen in the U.S. However, earlier this month the World Health Organization said that Omicron has produced its own subvariant, now named BA.2 and nicknamed the “stealth variant.”

So far, there is no evidence that the stealth variant is more dangerous than the initial Omicron, nor does it seem to escape immunity or spread faster.

FDA Limits Use of Certain Monoclonal Antibodies to Treat Covid

On Tuesday the FDA announced that they would be limiting the use of certain monoclonal antibodies against COVID-19.

This came because the antibodies being limited – Bamlanivimab, Etesevimab, Casirivimab and Imdevimab – aren’t effective against the Omicron variant, which makes up for 99% of cases in the United States as of Jan. 15.

These antibodies are no longer authorized for use in any of the U.S. states, territories, or jurisdictions. In the future if a variant that is susceptible to these treatments arises, the FDA will revisit the possibility of reinstating them to treat those variants.

There are still many other treatments proven effective against the Omicron variant, including Paxlovid, Sotrovimab, Veklury and Molnupiravir, and these continue to be available across the U.S. for those that need them.

CBD Proves to Stop Coronavirus in Lab

In recent tests, the Cannabis compound CBD proved to kill the Coronavirus in test tubes.

CBD is a non-psychoactive part of marijuana that some use to try to relieve pain, reduce symptoms of certain mental health disorders, benefit heart health and more.

However, just because CBD was able to stop COVID-19 in a test tube does not necessarily mean that it will work in patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

“Our findings do not say this will work in patients. Our findings make a strong case for a clinical trial,” Marsha Rosner from the University of Chicago said.

Rosner and her team’s studies did not prove to prevent infection of COVID-19 and CBD oil should not be used in place of approved COVID-19 vaccines.

Infection Rates Reduce but Death Rates Rise

New coronavirus cases have declined on a national level. Many states have seen a peak in cases behind them and charts are on their way down in new infections.

On Friday, the country averaged at approximately 720,000 new cases a day, which was down from 807,000 the week before.

However, things have not improved in all states. Some states in the West, South and the Great Plains are seeing sharp increases in cases.

Despite this, death rates per day in the U.S. still average out to 2100 a day, which is more than the death rates seen in any prior surge.

Citizens everywhere are still encouraged to follow CDC and local guidelines and make educated health decisions for mitigation.

Sources:

WHO

FDA

King 5

New York Times

Reuters

Washington Post