News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on More cases of Omicron observed in vaccinated people vs. unvaccinated people. Parent comment

Re:More cases of Omicron observed in vaccinated people vs. u... by wsc981 on Monday January 03, 2022 @03:04AM (#29778431)
> Given the low vaccination rate in Sub-Saharan Africa at the time this variant emerged from there, it's unlikely that mass vaccination campaigns drove selection pressure in this case. Far more likely that it was a host jump or a long mutation period inside a single immuno-compromised individual.

Perhaps, but it's my understanding that Omicron was first observed in diplomats that had already received multiple vaccinations. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/03/world/botswana-diplomats-...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:More cases of Omicron observed in vaccinated people vs. u... by _djo_ on Monday January 03, 2022 @03:14AM (#29778481)
No, none of those are suspected of being Patient Zero because they aren’t the earliest cases. Just the first to be detected. Nigeria has found Omicron in samples dating back to October, long before the diplomat cases were identified, and analyses that have compared changes to the genome over time against the infection rate show that it likely emerged in late September / early October.
[ Parent | on HN ]