Scientists in Washington researching COVID-19 Omicron variant to help protect public

Local researchers study COVID-19 Omicron variant

The COVID-19 Omicron variant has been detected in three Washington counties, and in more than 20 countries around the world—but we're now learning this variant may not be as dangerous as the Delta variant.

SEATTLE - The COVID-19 Omicron variant has been detected in three counties across Washington, and in more than 20 countries worldwide, according to the CDC.

Scientists said not much is known about Omicron, as detection of the variant is still in the early stages. However, researchers in Washington said the information currently available about Omicron has them on alert.

"The people who are working on this are as frustrated as everybody. Seeing the data on the Omicron variant was like getting punched in the stomach. It was a terrible feeling when I first saw this and realized that it was real," said Dr. Joshua T. Schiffer of Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center.

Dr. Schiffer is an associate professor in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at Fred Hutch, as well as the University of Washington Department of Medicine. Dr. Schiffer has been doing research in Washington throughout the pandemic. Part of his studies include working with researchers to model a local epidemic in King County. He said he is currently working to predict how a potential wave of Omicron variant infection could impact King County. He expressed his concern on how the possibility of new cases could burden the healthcare system once again.

"It’s pretty clear to me that lots and lots and lots of people are going to get infected with SARS-CoV-2, many of whom have been vaccinated or infected. It’s just less clear to me whether it will be a more minor illness, which is what we’re all hoping for," said Dr. Schiffer. "Even if it turns out to be a much more mild infection, if a huge percentage of the population gets infected, that can still lead to very big numbers in the hospitals. So, say the percentage of people end up getting very, very sick goes down, but 30 percent of the people in King County get infected over the course of a month or two, that still has the potential to place an enormous burden on a healthcare system."

Scientists said Omicron is spreading at a rate approximately four times the rate of the Delta variant. Though research is still in the early stages, the variant is already showing approximately 50 mutations.

"The alarming thing is we didn’t see a lot of these mutations in related viruses. Usually viruses accumulate mutations over time, and so we could kind of track as mutations emerge, and we see more and more over time. But there was this gap, and as soon Omicron was sequenced, all of these new mutations popped up. So, there’s a lot of questions going around as to how that happened," said Dr. Jesse Erasmus, acting assistant professor at UW Medicine.

Dr. Erasmus is also the Director of Virology at HDT Bio, a Seattle-based biopharmaceutical company working to address unmet needs in treating cancers and infectious diseases around the world. He has also been conducting COVID-19 research in Seattle throughout the pandemic. With questions surrounding Omicron, Dr. Erasmus said vaccines remain the best defense against coronavirus.

"The quickest way that we could see ourselves out of this pandemic. However, it does require that we get vaccinations up to much higher levels than where they are right now," said Dr. Erasmus.

He said part of his Omicron research is evaluating variant-specific versions of the current vaccines.

"Big question is how we can design booster vaccines to better respond to these variants, but also how existing vaccines are able to protect against this particular variant," said Dr. Erasmus.

In countries like South Africa, where Omicron was first detected, hospitalizations among children are increasing. The increase has yet to be tracked in the United States. Still, Seattle Children’s Hospital is closely monitoring developments in Washington.

"It will be important to see the data over time to determine if this finding persists. For those who can be vaccinated and/or boosted, it’s important to do that now," said Danielle Zerr, MD, MPH, Division Head for Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Researchers said these next couple of weeks will be critical in learning new information about Omicron.

"There’s still some uncertainty in terms of trying to project what will happen, but we are trying to get our heads around what this next wave of infection with Omicron could look like," said Dr. Schiffer.

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