NIH director says Omicron is unlikely to be the last variant of COVID-19

The director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) states that Omicron is unlikely to be the last variant to emerge from the original coronavirus.

“It’s certainly possible that this isn’t the last new variant that attracts a lot of attention and a lot of concern,” Dr. Francis Collins said in an interview.Meet the PressOn Sunday, when people were asked every six months if they should expect a “new dominant variant.”

“It has the most mutations I’ve ever seen. It’s Omicron with about 50 mutations compared to the original Wuhan virus.”

The NIH director shared the hypothesis that the Omicron variant may have originated from an immunocompromised person who was unable to “completely repel the virus.”

“So it probably remained in the system for months for that person until they finally got over it. And, of course, it’s perfect for the virus to be able to pick up additional mutations along the way. It’s a situation, “he said.

At least 16 US states in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin report cases of Omicron as of Sunday. I am. Epoch Times summary of the news report on December 5th.

Collins said the appearance patterns of various variants are likely to follow.

“As long as that continues to happen, if there isn’t enough immune protection around the world, yeah, we’ll probably see something. You’ll have to use some of the other Greek letters,” he said. Told.

Dr. Bibek Mercy, Chief Surgeon, said Fox news On Sunday, Amercan should not panic with the new strain, despite concerns that Omicron may be more susceptible to infection than other variants like Delta, but to wear a mask and protect himself. We will continue to take measures such as vaccination.

“I think it’s our reason that we don’t necessarily panic, we’re more vigilant and realize that the precautions we’ve been talking about last year or so are more important than ever.” Mercy said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said on Sunday that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is already in talks to quickly track the approval process for omicron-specific vaccines. I did.

“They are already discussing streamlining the approval of Omicron-specific vaccines, as many of the vaccines are actually exactly the same, and in fact all that needs to be changed is their mRNA code. “Walensky said. ABC’s “this week.. “

“Therefore, these conversations are in progress, and certainly the FDA moves quickly and the CDC moves shortly thereafter.”

Jack Phillips contributed to this report

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Isaac Teo is a Toronto-based Epoch Times reporter.