Omicron Variant: “A Little Too Much Hype, Saying This Is the Next Scary Thing”
Original article from The Brink , 2021
Infectious disease experts on whether Omicron’s arrival should influence our outlook and behavior, and how BU will prepare for, and detect, it
The new coronavirus variant—first detected in South Africa, and named Omicron by the World Health Organization—has stirred up concerns around the world, sent stock markets on a roller-coaster ride, triggered new air travel bans, and raised a number of questions. On Monday, President Joe Biden addressed the American public just after returning from his Thanksgiving break on Nantucket, calling for calm and stating the variant should be a “cause for concern, not a cause for panic.”
“We have more tools today to fight the variant than we’ve ever had before,” he said at a White House press conference. “You have to get your vaccine—you have to get the shot, you have to get the booster.”
Scientists are scrambling to understand how the mutations in Omicron may affect the virus’ transmissibility and mortality rate and whether or not existing COVID-19 vaccines are effective against it.
To learn more about the implications of Omicron, and the storm of media coverage around it, The Brink spoke to Boston University infectious disease expert Davidson Hamer, who is a member of BU’s Medical Advisory Group that has been guiding the University’s COVID-19 response since March 2020. He also chairs a group where clinicians and leaders from BU, Harvard University, Tufts University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology share data and insights on campus coronavirus response efforts. He is a faculty member of BU’s School of Public Health, School of Medicine, and National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories as well.
And to find out how Omicron will affect BU’s community health protocols and end-of-semester travel for students, we also spoke with Judy Platt, BU’s chief health officer and executive director of Student Health Services. Platt chairs BU’s Medical Advisory Group, oversees clinical management and isolation of students and employees who test positive for coronavirus, and helps manage BU’s contact tracing efforts. She is also cochair of BU’s Vaccine Preparedness Group, which has overseen the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots allocated to BU by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.