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Omicron and Immunity The case for updating covid-19 vaccines for the Omicron variant A new study puts the variant in a group apart from its predecessors Variants vary, but how much? Since SARS-COV-2 was first sequenced at the beginning of 2020 dozens of versions have been identified. Five have been designated “variants of concern” by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The latest is Omicron, which was given its name in November last year and looks set to become the dominant form of the virus almost everywhere. One question occupying both scientists and politicians is whether covid vaccines would work even better if they were updated to deal with novel variants. Up to and including Delta, first identified in India, and designated a variant of concern in May 2021, the answer has been “no”. But new research, which has mapped differences between all of the important versions of SARS-COV-2, suggests that, ...