The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has called for increased vaccination and public health measures to ensure the best possible protection against the Omicron variant of COVID-19.Director Dr Carissa Etienne said while experts work to better understand the new “variant of concern”, as Omicron has been designated by the World Health Organization (WHO), there is no need for people in the Caribbean and the rest of the Americas to panic.Scientists have said that Omicron is very unusual in that it is by far the most heavily mutated variant yet of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The variant has 50 mutations overall, with 32 mutations on the spike protein —which forms protruding knobs on the outside of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and helps the virus adhere to cells so that it can gain entry alone.
