What’s Causing New COVID Variants? Experts Speak On Omicron

Global concern is growing about an extended pandemic as a large number of unvaccinated people has increased the chances for more coronavirus variants.

New variants surfacing is “exactly what experts have been warning about for months,” Andrea Taylor, assistant director of programs at the Duke Global Health Innovation Center, said. “We saw what happened with India, which gave rise to the Delta variant. And we said, ‘Look, this is going to happen in Africa where there is uncontrolled transmission.' "

​​Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of the GAVI Alliance, said that while the Omicron variant is still shrouded in mystery, getting vaccinated is crucial in limiting new variants.

"We do know that as long as large portions of the world’s population are unvaccinated, variants will continue to appear, and the pandemic will continue to be prolonged,” he said.

Vaccine manufacturers such as AstraZeneca and Moderna have stated that they continue to seek ways to modify their shots to deal with the mutated strain of the virus.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared new protocols to better control the spread.

“We will require anyone who enters the U.K. to take a PCR test by the end of the second day after their arrival and to self-isolate until they have a negative result,” Johnson said.

On Monday, President Joe Biden called the Omicron coronavirus strain a “cause for concern,” yet “not a cause for panic.”