Early introduction and rise of the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant in highly vaccinated university populations.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is highly transmissible in vaccinated and unvaccinated populations. The dynamics governing its establishment and propensity towards fixation (reaching 100% frequency in the SARS-CoV-2 population) in communities remain unknown. In this work, we describe the dynamics of Omicron at three institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the greater Boston area.

Methods

We use diagnostic and variant-specifying molecular assays and epidemiological analytical approaches to describe the rapid dominance of Omicron following its introduction to three IHEs with asymptomatic surveillance programs.

Results

We show that the establishment of Omicron at IHEs precedes that of the state and region, and that the time to fixation is shorter at IHEs

SUBMITTER: Petros BA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9213864 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature