​​3 things to know about omicron and how to stay safe

OMICRON COULD BE MORE DANGEROUS THAN PREVIOUS VARIANTS CORONAVIRUS VARIANTS OF CONCERN The World Health Organization (WHO) named omicron a “variant of concern” on Nov. 26 — a classification

reserved for variants that have been associated with increased transmissibility, more severe disease or reduced effectiveness of available diagnostics (treatments, vaccines, tests, etc.). It

joins four others on WHO’s list: * Alpha, designated Dec. 18, 2020 * Beta, designated Dec. 18, 2020 * Gamma, designated Jan. 11, 2021 * Delta, designated May 11, 2021 * Omicron, designated

Nov. 26, 2021 _Source: World Health Organization_ It’s still too early to say what all these mutations mean, but studies underway are starting to provide some answers.  One thing that’s for

certain: Omicron’s presence in the U.S. is quickly increasing. In just a week it went from causing a small slice of new COVID-19 cases to becoming the dominant variant, knocking delta out of

its long-held position. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expecting a surge in new infections as the variant takes hold. The agency says omicron’s rapid rise is

believed to be a result of a combination of mutations that make it more contagious and better able to sidestep some of the protections afforded by the vaccines or a previous infection. 

Additional data is needed to determine whether omicron will cause more severe illness compared to other variants — some preliminary reports suggest it may actually be less severe, although

it’s too early to say for sure — and what breakthrough infections might look like in people who have been vaccinated and boosted. Researchers are also studying whether our current suite of

treatments will still be able to hold up against COVID. Based on some of omicron’s changes, the CDC says, “some treatments are likely to remain effective, while others may be less

effective.” Most tests are expected to identify a coronavirus infection caused by omicron, the Food and Drug Administration has said.  MASKS, VACCINES AND BOOSTERS ARE KEY Public health

experts say omicron's arrival in the U.S. doesn't change the best measures of protection — the ones they have been encouraging all along. “I don't think that this changes the

fundamentals of what we know works for protecting against transmission of the virus. I don't think that this is necessarily going to make masks less effective; it's not going to

make social distancing less effective. These are the things that are tried and true,” Ozer says. With winter here, it’s also important to avoid poorly ventilated spaces and crowded indoor

settings, both of which give the virus more of an opportunity to spread. A booster shot, if you haven’t had one already, will enhance your protection against COVID. That’s because the

vaccines don’t just zero in on one part of the spike protein, they target multiple parts of it, “and so loss of effectiveness against one part of this spike protein may not affect antibodies

that have been developed against other parts,” Ozer says. And what a booster shot does is give those antibodies some extra oomph. With a high enough antibody level, hand in hand with “other

elements of the immune response,” Fauci said, “there’s every reason to believe” the vaccines will continue to be able to keep people from getting severely ill from omicron and other

variants.