The new COVID B.1.1.529 variant, Omicron, was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on November 24 after it was first detected in South Africa. Now, it has also been identified in Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel. It was only on Friday that the WHO designated Omicron as a ‘Variant of Concern’. A variant of concern is the WHO’s top category of worrying COVID-19 variants.

With the countries across the globe tightening their international arrival and departure along with COVID norms, it is safe to assume that the lockdown is here to stay a little while longer.

With the new emergence of the variant, it seems many are asking what is the difference between ‘variant of concern’ and ‘variant of interest’.

Variants are compartmentalised into three categories:

– Variants of interest

– Variants of concern

– Variants of high consequence.

Variant of interest

As per the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a variant is classified as a variant of interest if it shows “specific genetic markers that have been associated with changes to receptor binding, reduced neutralization by antibodies generated against previous infection or vaccination, reduced efficacy of treatments, potential diagnostic impact, or predicted increase in transmissibility or disease severity.”

“We will probably have a variant of what we call a variant of interest identified every few weeks,” Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday.

“Like that’s how this virus works. Variants of interest just mean we’ve seen a number of the same genetic mutations emerge and scientists around the world are on the lookout for it every single time. A virus anywhere in the world gets this genetic sequence, it gets updated into a database that’s shared internationally, so we can really see what’s emerging. When a variant of interest emerges, it says, ‘Oh, this is something we should watch a little bit,'” she added.

Variant of concern

A variant of concern is the one in which “there is evidence of an increase in transmissibility, more severe disease (e.g., increased hospitalizations or deaths), a significant reduction in neutralization by antibodies generated during previous infection or vaccination, reduced effectiveness of treatments or vaccines, or diagnostic detection failures,” according to the CDC.

“Once we see a variant of interest clearly have an impact, meaning it is more contagious, it might be evading a treatment, it’s clearly making people sicker – that makes it into a variant of concern,” Allison said.

Variants of concern include alpha, beta, delta and now omicron. The latest one has been shown to spread more easily, cause more serious diseases. VoC are more worrying than VoI like the mu and lambda.

Variant of high consequence

A variant of high consequence “has clear evidence that prevention measures or medical countermeasures have significantly reduced effectiveness relative to previously circulating variants.”

As per Chicago’s top doctor, a variant of high consequence is a variant in which “the vaccine was not working very well.”

Currently, there are no variants of high consequence.