Omicron Is The Newest COVID Variant's Name & It's Giving The Internet 'Transformer' Vibes
The WHO made an unexpected choice for an unexpected variant.
Researchers just discovered a highly mutated new strain of COVID-19 and it's already getting a name: Omicron.
The World Health Organization added the B 1.1.529 strain of the coronavirus to its variant of concern list on Friday, less than a month after it was first detected in South Africa and Botswana — and two days after it got an official number.
"This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning," the WHO said in a statement. They added that it seems to have a "growth advantage," that it might be able to overcome vaccines and that it poses an "increased risk of reinfection."
Some had expected the WHO to call it Nu because that's the next letter in its Greek alphabet naming scheme. But officials skipped right over Nu and the next letter, Xi, to call this one Omicron.
Many immediately compared the Omicron name to the villainous Decepticons from the Transformers franchise on Twitter.
"Great, the new variant is a Decepticon," one Twitter user wrote.
"I'm not vibing with it," another tweeted.
The WHO started using Greek letters for variants early this year and they're already more than halfway through the alphabet.
Studies are underway to find out more about Omicron, but early results show that it has a "large number of mutations" with some "worrying characteristics," according to the WHO's Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove.
U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said that Omicron might be more infectious than Delta, which is dominant in several countries right now.
Officials don't know exactly how many people have been infected by Omicron at this point but Israel and Belgium have already reported their first cases.
"It's a suspicious variant," Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said, according to the Associated Press. "We don't know if it's a very dangerous variant."
The WHO held a special meeting to discuss the variant and give it a name on Friday, after The European Commission and the U.K. slammed their borders shut against travellers from southern Africa.
"Variant of concern" is the most severe label on the WHO's list, and there are only a few other strains under that category, including Delta.
The other strains didn't make that list until at least a few months after they were discovered, but for Omicron it was a matter of days.