COVID-19 Omicron variant detected in Washoe County; booster doses, prior infection show increased protection
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Tue, 12/21/2021 - 11:39am
The first reported case of Omicron in Northern Nevada has been confirmed in Washoe County according to the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory. Omicron was first detected in Nov. 2021 in South Africa and quickly spread across the world.
The Washoe County case is a male in his early 50s, who was fully vaccinated and received a booster. They believe his exposure came from both recent domestic and international air travel. He is recovering and isolating at home, according to a Washoe County Health District (WCHD) release.
“As we mentioned before it was only a matter of time before we identified this variant in Washoe County,” said Kevin Dick, Washoe County District Health Officer. “The best form of protection residents can take against all variants is getting fully vaccinated and receiving a booster. It is also imperative, especially now with the cold weather and holiday gatherings, that they continue taking safety precautions such as staying home and getting tested if they feel sick and wearing a mask indoors in public.”
The WCHD also urges residents to implement consistent mask wearing, hand washing and to isolate whether they have tested positive for COVID-19 or while waiting for results to avoid getting others sick.
“Variants develop when the virus has the opportunity to spread from person to person,” said Dr. Nancy Diao, WCHD Director of Epidemiology. “Which is why vaccines and other preventive measures are so important in reducing the spread of the COVID-19 and slowing the rate of new variants developing.”
According to the CDC, the transmission of Omicron is due to its ability to navigate around immunity, both from vaccine immunity as well as having contracted the virus previously. However, those who have received a booster dose or who were previously infected are likely to have stronger protection against Omicron.
While the COVID-19 vaccines were 92 percent effective at preventing severe illness in the original strain of COVID-19, that effectiveness fell to 53 percent when Delta came onto the scene.
What this means is, the vaccine did exactly what it was made to do: prevent infection of the original COVID-19 strain. Unfortunately, as the virus has continued to mutate into different versions of itself, the vaccine’s capabilities have been significantly reduced.
According to research conducted by Pfizer and BioNTech, preliminary laboratory studies show that three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine show an increase in protection against the Omicron variant.
On Monday, Moderna said that a booster dose of its vaccine appears to be protective against Omicron, though they are still planning to develop a vaccine to protect against the new strain and hopes to begin clinical trials early next year.
Jansen and Jansen has not yet indicated how effective its vaccine is against the new Omicron strain.
