{"id":142281,"date":"2021-11-26T16:05:35","date_gmt":"2021-11-26T20:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=142281"},"modified":"2021-11-26T16:05:35","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T20:05:35","slug":"who-declares-new-variant-of-concern-named-omicron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/who-declares-new-variant-of-concern-named-omicron\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO declares new variant of concern named Omicron"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The World Health Organization has declared the new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa as a variant of concern and named it omicron.<\/p>

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WHO’s technical working group met on Friday to assess the new B.1.1.529 variant and decide whether it should be deemed a variant of concern or a variant of interest.\u00a0Variant of concern is the more serious of the two designations. The delta variant that is dominating infections in Canada and around the world is a variant of concern.<\/p>\n

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WHO\u00a0defines a variant of interest<\/u><\/a>\u00a0as one that shows genetic changes that in theory\u00a0could give it the potential to affect transmissibility, severity of disease, or how well vaccines or treatments work on the virus and could cause significant community transmission in “multiple countries\u00a0\u2026\u00a0to suggest an emerging risk to global public health.”<\/p>

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It becomes a variant of concern when there’s evidence that increased transmission or increased severity of disease may be\u00a0happening, or that public health measures, vaccination or treatments may have decreased effectiveness against it.<\/p>

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