Covid-19: Will vaccines stop omicron? Scientists are racing to find out

As nations severed air links from southern Africa amid fears of another global surge of the coronavirus, scientists scrambled to gather data on the new Omicron variant

A “Frankenstein mix” of mutations raises concerns, but the variant may remain vulnerable to current vaccines. If not, revisions will be necessary. 

As nations severed air links from southern Africa amid fears of another global surge of the coronavirus, scientists scrambled on Sunday to gather data on the new Omicron variant, its capabilities and — perhaps most important — how effectively the current vaccines will protect against it. 

The early findings are a mixed picture. The variant may be more transmissible and better able to evade the body’s immune responses, both to vaccination and to natural infection, than prior versions