SC health agency monitoring for new omicron COVID variant, stressing vaccinations

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said Monday it is “closely monitoring” information on the new omicron COVID-19 variant that has made headlines in recent days.

The state health agency also is pleading with residents to get COVID-19 vaccination shots.

In a statement, DHEC said it had not yet detected Omicron in the Palmetto State.

“At this time, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and DHEC have not identified any cases in South Carolina through sequencing of randomly selected positive samples,” the health agency said.

The omicron variant was first detected in southern Africa, and cases have been popping up around the world. According to Reuters, new cases were found Sunday in the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia. The U.S. is restricting travel for non-U.S. citizens from eight African nations. A host of other countries also are putting in travel restrictions.

The World Health Organization called omicron a “variant of concern” Saturday. In a Monday afternoon speech, President Joe Biden called the Omicron variant a “cause for concern, not a cause for panic.”

“We’re going to fight and beat this new variant as well,” Biden said, comparing it to the delta variant.

DHEC stressed in its Monday statement that there is still much to be learned about omicron.

“Information about the omicron variant such as illness severity, transmissibility compared to other variants, and the effectiveness of current vaccines and monoclonal antibody treatments against it are not known at this time as data and information continues to be gathered,” DHEC’s statement said.

The state health agency also “strongly encourages” South Carolinians 5 and older to complete COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible, and to get booster shots as soon as they are eligible. DHEC also encouraged the wearing of masks while indoors in public places.

As of Nov. 22, 57.5% of all South Carolinians had received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, while 50% of all state residents had completed vaccination.