European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

COMPARSION OF VARIANT OF CONCERN OF OMICRON (B.1.1.529 COVID-19) AND DELTA (B.1.617.2 COVID-19)

M. Meghana, M. Naveen, *Dr. B. Raghavendra and Dr. N. Ravindra Babu

ABSTRACT

The recent emergence of variants such as delta and omicron significantly have high transmissibility, high immune escape potential, high risk of re infections & also high rates of hospitalizations. The world health organization established an informal virus evolution expert working group designed a technical advisory group on SARS cov- 2 virus evolution (TAG-VE), it described that a difference in entry pathway between omicron and delta variant may have implications on clinical manifestations or disease severity. Due to more mutations in the spike protein in these variants, COVID-19 severity increased and reduced the efficacy of vaccines. Although variant of concern - omicron shows more contagious & more severe compared with delta. However, immunization rates have plateau, due to a lack of focus on the various behavioral aspect of vaccine uptake. Variant-specific vaccines may be required to treat COVID-19 due to omicron which is an emerging variant of concern.

Keywords: Variant of concern, Delta variant, Omicron variant.