Biotech Values

[vinmantoo]

Doctor Who First Raised Concern Over Omicron Variant Says Symptoms Are 'Mild'

biocqr, thanks for the update. I was wondering if this was possible. Multiple mutations in the spike protein could help it be less immunogenic with respect to the initial Covid vaccines, which is obviously bad. However, since the spike protein enables Covid-19 to enter cells it could also reduce the efficiency of entry and make the virus less virulent, which is not so bad.

If Omicron turns out to be mild in unvaccinated elderly populations and becomes the dominant strain then this may not be a bad thing.

That is quite possible. Mutation into a less virulent strain might enable Covid to persist in the population longer, and become something more akin to a severe cold. That possibility has been discussed before. Way too soon to tell if this is the case about Omicron.