Abstract

A REVIEW ON OMICRON THE NEW VARIANT (B.1.1.529) OF SARS-CoV-2.

Kanikella Sivaji*, S.T.N.S.S.Pavani, R. Swathi, B. Anupama Devi, B. Sandhya, L. Swarupa Rani

ABSTRACT

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID- The variant was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on 24 November 2021. On 26 November 2021, the WHO designated it as a variant of concern and named it after omicron on the advice of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE). This decision was based on the evidence presented to the TAG-VE that Omicron has several mutations that may have an impact on how it behaves, for example, on how easily it spreads or the severity of illness it causes. Here is a summary of what is currently known. The variant has an unusually large number of mutations, several of which are novel and several of which affect the spike protein used for most vaccine targeting at the time of its discovery. This level of variation has led to concerns regarding transmissibility, immune system evasion, and vaccine resistance. As a result, the variant was quickly designated as being "of concern", and travel restrictions were introduced by several countries to limit or slow its international spread

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