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Viruses like the common cold have been living with humans for a long time.
But the Omicron variant, which was discovered last week, certainly takes the cake as scientists in South Africa revealed its transmissibility.
In our last story tonight, let's take a look at how pharmaceutical companies are racing to combat the new variant, and how scientists battling COVID on the frontlines are on the lookout for more details as well.
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Humans have been living with viruses such as influenza and the common cold since time immemorial.
Nevertheless, the recent discovery of the new Omicron variant that breaks the mould galvanised scientists in every nook and cranny of the world into action in more ways than one, leaving no stone unturned in their quest for more details about not only the threat the variant poses, but if patients might have the worrisome new variant as well.
As such, researchers in Nebraska had just finished sequencing six samples of the Omicron variant, the most discovered anywhere in the United States.
Racing against the clock every day, the scientists at the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory in Omaha have been extracting the genetic information from 64 new COVID samples to determine whether any of those patients might have fallen victim to the Omicron variant of the deadly virus.
Not only are scientists highlighting the great essence of a bulwark against Omicron, they are also keeping a lookout for virus outbreaks due to Omicron. This, as South African scientists said on Friday that the variant appeared to be twice as contagious as the Delta variant. And the number of infections vis-a-vis the Omicron variant could outstrip that of the Delta variant.
As people started to extrapolate about the discovery of Omicron in Africa, scientists in the U.S. diverted from their holiday weekend and began their quest for clues as to whether the variant has encroached upon America.
Scientists opine that knowing where and how extensively Omicron is circulating apace is a means to understanding and ameliorating its pernicious effect on the earth.
At this juncture, the jury's still out on the extent to which Omicron may dodge protection from the current vaccines.
Meantime, pharmaceutical companies are working their fingers to the bone, pivoting efforts to combat the new variant. Pfizer and BioNTech say they are gleaning more data about the variant, with Moderna and Johnson & Johnson both testing their vaccines' efficacy against the virus.
As Americans prepare to celebrate Christmas and 2022's arrival, the CDC can foresee that America will soon witness an upsurge of cases in the United States.
Still, it has been almost two years since the onset of the pandemic. And scientists are battling COVID on the frontlines despite their lassitude.
Although the world survived several quagmires, such as the Spanish flu outbreak, whether the virus will live with us in perpetuity is still something that remains hanging in the balance.
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