HOUSTON – KPRC Health Reporter Haley Hernandez sat down with Kelsey-Seybold’s managing physician of vaccine practices to get more information on the Omicron variant.
Q: Now that omicron is in the US, should we be concerned?
Dr. Melanie Mouzoon
A: I think we need to watch this new variant very closely. It has a number of changes in the spike protein and all of those changes are going to have an effect on the shape of the protein.
Q: Meaning it’s possible the vaccines won’t work?
Dr. Melanie Mouzoon
A: They’re likely to work overall pretty well and still prevent most illness and death, but I would expect that more people who are vaccinated could get sick with this variant.
Q: Is that why there’s more concern about this variant than others?
Dr. Melanie Mouzoon
A: These changes are changes that will be significant for its infectivity and for vaccine protection.
Q: Should people reconsider holiday travel?
Dr. Melanie Mouzoon
A: I think it’s a little early to say. I wouldn’t travel to the countries that have large outbreaks and we may be a country that has large outbreaks by December 25th and so it’s really hard to say.
