Omicron Revealed
實驗室關鍵解讀 Omicron變異株大揭密
Labs Are Scrambling to Understand Omicron as It Sweeps the UK
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT
With the Omicron variant surging across the U.K., scientists at the University of Glasgow are racing to confirm in the lab what real-world data is already suggesting.
MASSIMO PALMARINI, DIRECTOR OF CENTRE FOR VIRUS RESEARCH, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
Omicron is able to escape far better the immune [response] induced by vaccination [far better] than any other variant.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT
It also appears to spread much more easily, but some indications5 are that it causes less severe symptoms.
ANTONIA HO, CLINICAL SENIOR LECTURER, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
We will, possibly, have a million people a day who are being infected in the U.K., and even if it’s a tiny proportion of that large number, that will still result in quite a large number of hospitalization[s].
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT
Because the lab we’re about to enter contains live samples of the Omicron variant, we have to be decked out [from] head to toe in protective equipment and also sealed off with this respirator from any potential danger.
When the virus sample first arrived here two weeks ago, it came in a very small vial. It’s been left to grow and multiply in this incubator since then. Now, they finally have enough to experiment with. They’ve already noticed Omicron does not multiply as quickly as Delta. Under the microscope, the dark spots are cells Delta infected in 24 hours, but even after 48 hours, the Omicron variant has not spread nearly as far—a potentially encouraging sign.
AGNIESZKA SZEMIEL, FACILITY MANAGER, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
It is slower in the lab, so … and it’s [it] doesn’t seem to be killing the cells as the other variants, but this is all, sort of, in the lab, so [the] question is now [is] how does that translates into the … actual patients.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT
And sometimes things behave differently in a lab than they would in real life.
AGNIESZKA SZEMIEL, FACILITY MANAGER, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
Yes.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT
In the real world, new infections of Omicron are doubling in as little as two days in some parts of the U.K.
BORIS JOHNSON, PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
There is a tidal wave of Omicron coming.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT
The government thinks that every infected person infects three to five others. One not-yet-peer-reviewed model suggests that in the worst-case scenario, more than half of the English population could be infected with the Omicron variant over the winter months.
JENNY HARRIES, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, UK HEALTH SECURITY AGENCY
It’s probably the most significant threat we’ve had since the start of the pandemic.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT
In response, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is resorting to Plan B—reviving the indoor mask mandate and introducing a COVID passport for nightclubs and large events. But a vote this week to confirm the measure provoked a mutiny from within Johnson’s own Conservative Party, passing only thanks to votes from the opposition.
COVID passports are making life difficult for the unjabbed in places like Italy, France, Germany and Austria. They’re now required for everyday things like restaurants, public transit, going to work or even leaving your house. Austria is making adult vaccinations mandatory. The new German chancellor is pushing for the same, but when Johnson suggested even a conversation about that in the future, it was publically shot down by his own health secretary.
SAJID JAVID, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE, THE UNITED KINGDOM
Although we’ve seen plans for universal mandatory vaccination in some countries in Europe, I will never support them in this country.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT
Instead, the government is resorting to a familiar approach—personal responsibility.
CHRIS WHITTY, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER, THE UNITED KINGDOM
I think people should prioritize what really matters to them and then cut down on the things that don’t.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT
But with another record high of new infections Friday and the threat of rising hospitalizations, Johnson may soon need to convince a weary public to go along with even more restrictions, unless some good news is discovered inside labs like this one.
Scott McLean, CNN, Glasgow, Scotland.
CNN特派員 史考特.麥克林
由於Omicron變異株在英國各地大幅竄升,格拉斯哥大學的科學家們正馬不停蹄要在實驗室裡證實真實世界的數據已經顯示的事情。
格拉斯哥大學病毒研究中心主任 馬西默.帕馬里尼
Omicron比任何其他變異株遠遠更能避開接種疫苗所誘發的免疫反應。
CNN特派員 史考特.麥克林
它看起來好像也容易傳播得多,不過一些跡象是它會造成較不嚴重的症狀。
格拉斯哥大學臨床資深講師 安東妮雅.何
在英國,我們可能將會有一天一百萬人被感染,而即使是那個龐大數字中的一小部分,那還是將會導致頗大量的住院人數。
CNN特派員 史考特.麥克林
由於我們即將進入的這間實驗室內含Omicron變異株的活體樣本,我們必須從頭到腳穿好防護裝備,還要用這個人工呼吸器封起來,阻絕任何可能的危險。
兩週前這個病毒樣本剛到這裡的時候,是裝在一支非常小的玻璃瓶裡。從那之後,它便被置於這個培養器中生長和繁殖。現在他們終於有足夠的量來做實驗了。他們已經注意到Omicron不像Delta繁殖得一樣快。在顯微鏡下,深色的點是Delta在二十四小時內所感染的細胞,不過即使過了四十八小時,Omicron變異株還沒散播到差不多的程度,這是一個可能令人感到振奮的跡象。
格拉斯哥大學設備主任 愛格尼絲卡.撒米爾
在實驗室裡比較慢,所以……而且它似乎不像其他變異株一樣會殺死細胞,不過這可以說全都是在實驗室裡的情況,因此現在的問題是,那會怎樣轉化在真實的病人身上。
CNN特派員 史考特.麥克林
有時候事物在實驗室裡的表現會和在真實世界中的不一樣。
格拉斯哥大學設備主任 愛格尼絲卡.撒米爾
是的。
CNN特派員 史考特.麥克林
在真實世界中,在英國部分地區,Omicron的新感染人數正在短短兩天內翻倍。
英國首相 鮑里斯.強生
有一波Omicron浪潮襲來。
CNN特派員 史考特.麥克林
政府認為每一個被感染的人會傳染給其他三到五個人。一個尚未經同儕審查的模型顯示,在最糟的情況下,在冬天這幾個月之間,超過半數的英國人可能會感染Omicron變異株。
英國衛生安全局局長 珍妮.哈里斯
這可能是疫情伊始以來我們所面對最重大的威脅。
CNN特派員 史考特.麥克林
作為回應,首相鮑里斯.強生要訴諸於B計畫──重新啟動室內口罩強制令,並針對夜店和大型活動採用新冠病毒護照。不過本週一場要批准此措施的投票在強生自己所屬的保守黨內引發叛變,投票通過僅是因為來自反對黨的票。
在義大利、法國、德國及奧地利等地,新冠病毒護照讓未接種疫苗的人生活變得困難重重。舉凡像是餐廳、公共運輸、去上班、甚或是離開自家等日常事物,如今都需要該護照。奧地利要把成人接種疫苗列為強制性的。新任德國總理也力推同樣的措施,不過當強生提議不過是在未來做相關討論時,這卻遭到自家的衛生大臣公開否決。
英國衛生與社會關懷部大臣 薩吉德.賈偉德
雖然我們看到歐洲部分國家有全體強制接種疫苗的計畫,不過在這個國家,我絕對不會支持這種計畫的。
CNN特派員 史考特.麥克林
政府反而訴諸一個熟悉的方法──個人責任。
英國首席醫療顧問 克里斯.惠提
我想人們應該把對自己真正要緊的事排定優先順序,然後減少不重要的事物。
CNN特派員 史考特.麥克林
不過由於週五出現新感染人數的另一個歷史新高以及住院人數攀升的威脅,強生可能很快就得說服疲憊的大眾遵從甚至更多的限制,除非是在像這間的實驗室裡發現了一些好消息。
本台記者史考特.麥克林,在蘇格蘭格拉斯哥的報導。