While the omicron covid19 variant has not yet been detected in TT, professor of molecular genetics and virology at UWI's Faculty of Medical Sciences Christine Carrington says, as was the case with the delta variant, omicron will eventually reach TT’s shores.

The warning comes as the government introduced new travel restrictions on anyone coming out of eight countries in southern Africa in an attempt to slow down the entry and restrict the spread of omicron.

Carrington encouraged people to reduce the risk of getting covid19 by washing or sanitising their hands regularly, wearing their masks, improving ventilation of indoor spaces, avoiding crowded spaces, and to get vaccinated.

“Even if the variant is less sensitive to vaccine-induced immunity, (the vaccine)  is likely to still provide enough protection to reduce severe disease.”

Speaking at Saturday’s Ministry of Health covid19 press conference, she said omicron possesses genetic changes that could make it more resistant to immunity from vaccines and previous infections.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh also said the ministries of Health, Sport and Community Development are working on ensuring TT’s women cricketers return home safely from the abandoned ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe. There are two Trinidadians on the team – vice-captain Anisa Mohammed and reserve player Karishma Ramharack.

Carrington explained that the variant has more mutations which could make it spread faster, including 32 mutations on the spike protein and ten mutations on the receptor-binding domain which gains entry to cells.

“Several of the mutations found in omicron are found in other variants of concern, wherein those variants are associated with increased transmission and reduced vaccine-sensitivity.

“However, the role that they play in omicron still has to be confirmed. There are studies under way to address this and we can expect to get more insights in the coming weeks.”

She said preliminary evidence showed the immune protection gained from infection with previous variants may not be as effective against omicron, and that it is more easily spread than other variants, since the number of cases seems to be increasing in all provinces in South Africa.

Omicron’s detection coincided with a sharp rise in cases in South Africa, so authorities believe it may be more transmissible than delta. It now accounts for about 90 per cent of cases in the Gauteng province of South Africa.

Scientists are also uncertain if omicron is associated with more severe disease.

Carrington said the diagnostic PCR tests used for covid19 detect the variant, but one of the three target genes the PCR operates on is not detected in omicron.

“This is referred to as S-gene drop out or S-gene target failure, which can be used as a marker for this variant and is a convenient way to tell if omicron may be present in a sample pending confirmation by whole-genome sequencing. All of these things have to be furthe