We can prevail over Omicron. We just need to use the tools we have | Eric Topol

Masks, vaccines, boosters, rapid tests and anti-Covid pills will all be essential in the months ahead

Last week, we learned from virus sequencing and rapid reporting by South African scientists that there is a new variant with 50 mutations compared with the original Wuhan strain. It quickly was named Omicron and categorized as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization, a designation that hasbeen used for only four previous variants (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta) among thousands of variants noted in the evolution of the Sars-CoV-2 virus.

We do know a few things about Omicron, namely its sequence and the site of its abundant mutations, far more than previous variants of concern, and some at spots in the virus RNA that may substantially affect transmission or impair our immune system (or vaccine-induced immunity) to respond. That is all theoretical, since there have been other mutation-laden variants in the past that were picked up but turned out to be void of any clinical consequence.

Eric Topol is the founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, professor of molecular medicine, and executive vice-president of Scripps Research