“What is known is that there are indeed many common point mutations in the omicron, that is, substitutions of one letter for another [in the genome], which fall into different regions of the spike, which are known to be associated with recognition of the immune system.
Most likely, this means that this virus is less similar to the coronavirus in terms of our immune system, which has already trained on other variants, and it will be more difficult for her to recognize it, ”Bazykin said.
He suggested that in this case, "some additional training" may be required.
“And this is what we are talking about when they say that maybe we will have to modify the vaccines in some way.
But so far the data on this matter are very limited and require additional research, ”the professor said.
Earlier, Rospotrebnadzor said that two Russians who returned from South Africa had an omicron strain of coronavirus.