The emergence and epidemic characteristics of the highly mutated SARS‐CoV‐2 Omicron variant

Recently, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) was first identified in Botswana in November 2021. It was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on November 24. On November 26, 2021, according to the advice of scientists who are part of the WHO's Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE), the WHO defined the strain as a variant of concern (VOC) and named it Omicron. Compared to the other four VOCs (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta), the Omicron variant was the most highly mutated strain, with 50 mutations accumulated throughout the genome. The Omicron variant contains at least 32 mutations in the spike protein, which was…