Augusta better prepared for COVID-19 variants, but vaccination, boosters needed

Even before it arrives, Augusta is prepared for the Omicron variant of COVID-19, health officials said. In the meantime, get vaccinated or get a booster shot, they said. 

The new variant first identified earlier this month in South Africa is not in Augusta but the labs will be able to once it arrives, said Dr. Ravindra Kolhe, director of the Georgia Esoteric and Molecular Laboratory at Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

"It will show up. We will pick it up when it shows up," he said. The lab is part of a genetic testing consortium through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that is doing sequencing on positive samples "real-time" as they come in, Kolhe said.

"If it is detected, CDC will have that information right away," he said. The Omicron variant carries a genetic mutation shared with the earlier Alpha variant – also known as the UK variant – that readily shows up on the tests most labs run, and the MCG lab has capabilities beyond that, Kolhe said.

"That’s an advantage," Kolhe said. "I think the region, not only the city but the CSRA, is very fortunate to have everything ready, both the testing and the sequencing capacity and the expertise."

The fact that the Omicron variant was raised as potential threat so efficiently shows the labs are doing a good job, said Dr. Phillip Coule, chief medical officer at AU Health System.

"The surveillance systems that are in place that were developed for other variants appears to have worked well here," he said. "It really suggests the monitoring and surveillance system is working well to try to identify and contain these variants very early."

However, because it is so early, there is much that is unknown about Omicron, including just how contagious it is and whether it causes more severe disease, which would heighten concerns, Kolhe and Coule said.

"It’s too early to jump to any conclusions," Coule said.

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By restricting travel from southern Africa and other measures, it is giving the U.S. time to prepare for the variant's arrival, President Biden said. And the best way to do that is get vaccinated or to boost your vaccination, he said.

"You have to get your vaccine," Biden said. "You have to get the shot. You have to get the booster."

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If anyone is 18 or older and was fully vaccinated before June 1, "go get the booster shot today," he said. "Do not wait. Go get your booster if it is time for you to do so." In response to the variant, the director of the National Institutes of Health has also encouraged people to get the booster.

While Omicron's impact on current vaccines is unknown, it is likely to be helpful, Coule said.

"The best evidence would suggest that, as with other variants, if you have high antibody levels you are going to be protected against this variant as well," Coule said.