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UTMB team working to determine how dangerous the omicron variant really is

Thirteen cases of omicron have been confirmed in the Houston area.

HOUSTON — Researchers are racing to learn more about how dangerous the COVID-19 omicron variant is and how well vaccines work against it.

One of those teams is in the Houston area.

Thirteen cases of omicron have been confirmed in the Houston area as of Friday morning, so these researchers are moving very quickly to get answers to some critical questions.

Scientists at UTMB are reverse engineering this version of the coronavirus to figure out exactly what they are dealing with.

The team is focusing on three things:

  • They are running tests to see how vaccines protect against the omicron variant
  • They want to see if it really is more transmissible
  • They are testing how severe it is compared to delta.

“The data we've presented has been presented to the FDA, CDC, and government agencies and of course our long-term collaborators of Pfizer BioNTech,” Dr. Pei-Yong Shi said.

Another important question they'll get answers to is how well people are protected against omicron with a booster dose.

Health officials are strongly recommending the extra dose six months after getting the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and two months after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

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