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COVID’s Omicron Variant is High Risk — Here’s Are all You Need to Know

Researchers are still learning about Covid’s new omicron variant, but one expert has a stark prediction.
“All the scientists I’ve talked to… are like, ‘This is not going to be good,’” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel told the Financial Times on Tuesday.
On Sunday, at least two omicron cases were detected in Canada, marking its arrival in North America — roughly two weeks after the variant was first detected in South Africa, on November 9.
White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said he “would not be surprised” if omicron is already in the United States, in an interview with NBC’s “Weekend TODAY” on Saturday.
The next few weeks will be telling, as scientists analyze how effective the Covid vaccines are against omicron and countries crack down on testing and tracing to identify where the variant is. The World Health Organization said Monday that omicron poses a “very high” global risk.
In the meantime, multiple states have warned people to stay vigilant. New York City is back to “strongly recommending” masks in all indoor public settings, regardless of vaccination status, Dr. David Chokshi, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, told reporters Monday.
Here’s What you Need to Know:
Is omicron more dangerous than other variants?
Omicron contains troubling characteristics that might make it more transmissible — particularly among people who have already gotten and recovered from Covid, according to the WHO.
Most notably, the variant contains “a disturbingly large number of mutations in the spike protein,” Fauci told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.
The spike protein is the part of the virus that latches onto and penetrates cells in your body, leading to a Covid infection.
Omicron has more than 30 spike protein mutations, compared with the original virus — significantly more than the delta variant. The function of those mutations isn’t fully known yet, but some of them could make it easier for the virus to infiltrate human cells.
The WHO noted on Friday that “infections have increased steeply” in South Africa, in tandem with the discovery of omicron.
Only 24% of the population in South Africa is vaccinated, compared to 59% of the U.S. population.
Still, other countries can expect a similar pattern to unfold as the variant spreads, Fauci said.
Potentially Good News:
So far, omicron hasn’t caused any known deaths, and its symptoms appear to be “extremely mild,” Dr. Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association that discovered the variant, told the BBC on Sunday.
If true, that could mean omicron’s mutations make it more easily transmissible, but less severe. (According to the WHO, there’s no consensus yet that omicron symptoms differ from other variants.)
Do the vaccines already protect against omicron?
It’s too soon to tell — which isn’t reason for panic. It just means scientists are working on finding out.
Given omicron’s plentiful mutations, it could theoretically evade vaccine-induced protection. Bancel said he anticipates a drop in vaccine effectiveness. Researchers will likely have answers within the next two weeks by testing antibodies from people who are vaccinated, and seeing if they are capable of neutralizing the virus.
Even if omicron can evade those antibodies, the vaccines are still likely to protect against severe illness, BioNTech CEO and co-founder Dr. Ugur Sahin told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
because omicron will “hardly be able to completely evade T-cells,” which are the body’s second line of defense against the virus, Sahin said.
Still, President Joe Biden instructed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday to use the “fastest process available without cutting any corners,” to make omicron-specific vaccines available, if necessary.
It’s unclear who would be eligible for those vaccines, if they eventually get approved.
Moderna says it’s already working on one, which could be ready to ship by early 2022, if necessary. On Monday, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that his company is waiting for more data before acting — but could have its version ready in 100 days.
Non-vaccine treatments could also be a mixed bag. Pfizer’s Covid antiviral pill, Paxlovid — which has yet to be approved by the FDA — might work against variants like omicron, because it’s designed to address spike mutations, Bourla said.
But fellow drugmaker Regeneron said Tuesday that its monoclonal antibody cocktail, along with any other similar drugs, could be less effective against omicron than other variants. The company said it’s exploring other alternatives.
Should you wait on getting a booster until there’s an omicron-specific shot?
No. Get your booster as soon as you’re eligible, regardless of any omicron developments.
Even partial protection is better than no protection, and the longer you wait, the more you risk getting infected by another Covid variant — including delta, which remains dangerous.
Plus, if the current Covid vaccines prove effective against the new variant, omicron-specific shots may never be deemed necessary. Waiting for that answer is a gamble akin to playing “mind games,” Fauci told “Meet the Press.”
In a statement on Monday, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky specifically cited omicron as a reason why eligible people should get their boosters. Since the booster shot lifts your body’s level of antibodies high enough to protect against every other known variant, it should give you “at least some degree, and maybe a lot of protection” against omicron, Fauci said.
What should you do differently to protect yourself against omicron?
Getting vaccinated and boosted, plus wearing a mask in public indoor settings, remain the best ways to protect yourself and the people around you.
“Do not pull back on your guard,” Fauci told NBC’s “Weekend TODAY.”
On Monday, the Biden administration restricted most air travel from South Africa and seven other countries: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Travel bans cannot completely prevent the virus from entering the country, but they “delay it enough to get us better prepared,” Fauci said. Lockdowns aren’t currently being discussed, Biden said Monday.
Even if omicron gets bad, it probably won’t undo the world’s Covid-fighting progress.
Tests can easily detect omicron, promising therapeutics like the antiviral pills are on the horizon and scientists know much more about the disease than they did in March 2020, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, tweeted on Sunday.
News
Toll Collection on Lagos-Calabar Highway Begins December

Senator David Umahi, the Minister of Works, has announced that a section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will be tolled starting in December.
Umahi disclosed this during an interview for a forthcoming State House documentary marking the second anniversary of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
He said: “By December, we will toll Section 1 of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway. We project a 10-year return on investment.
“The road has solar-powered lighting and CCTV infrastructure, and offers carbon credit advantages.
“It is more than a road; it is an economic corridor and a catalyst for regional growth.”
According to the minister, 30 kilometres of Section 1 have already been completed, with an additional 10 kilometres in Section 2 nearing delivery. Both segments feature six-lane concrete-paved carriageways, designed to meet modern standards for safety and durability.
Umahi further revealed that construction had commenced on Sections 3 and 3B of the highway, spanning a total of 65 kilometres, covering 38 kilometres in Cross River State and 27 kilometres in Akwa Ibom.
He described the positive response from local communities as a clear indication of the project’s wide-reaching socioeconomic benefits.
“Just days ago, we flagged off Sections 3 and 3B—65 kilometres in total, covering 38 kilometres in Cross River State and 27 kilometres in Akwa Ibom. The host communities’ excitement speaks to these projects’ transformative impact,” he said.
Umahi also highlighted the administration’s renewed focus on the Sokoto-Badagry superhighway, which he noted was part of a broader vision dating back to colonial-era trade plans.
“The Trans-Saharan trade route dates back to colonial-era planning. President Tinubu is now bringing these long-abandoned visions to life,” the minister explained.
News
Kaspersky Uncovers Dero Crypto Miner Spreading via Exposed Container Environments

Kaspersky Security Services experts have identified a sophisticated cyberattack campaign targeting containerized environments to deploy a miner for the Dero cryptocurrency.
The attackers abuse exposed Docker APIs — parts of Docker, an open-source container development platform. In 2025, there are a significant number of Docker API default ports that are insecurely published, accounting for almost 500 occurrences worldwide on average each month.
In the discovered campaign, cybercriminals inject two types of malwares into the compromised systems: one is the miner itself and the other is a propagation malware that can spread the campaign to other insecure container networks.
Kaspersky experts discovered this malicious campaign as part of a compromise assessment project. According to expert estimates, any organisation that operates containerized infrastructure — while exposing Docker APIs without robust security controls — can be a potential target. These may include technology companies, software development firms, hosting providers, cloud service providers and more enterprises.
According to Shodan, in 2025, there are 485 published Docker API default ports¹ worldwide each month on average. This figure illustrates the campaign’s potential attack surface by tallying the “entry points” — or insecurely exposed ports that attackers might target.
Once attackers identify an insecurely published Docker API, they either compromise existing containers or create new malicious ones based on a legitimate standard Ubuntu image. They then inject two malware types into the compromised containers: “nginx” and “cloud”.
The latter is a Dero cryptocurrency miner, while “nginx” is a malicious software that maintains persistence, ensures execution of the miner and scans for other exposed environments. This malware allows attackers to operate without traditional Command-and-Control (C2) servers; instead, each infected container independently scans the Internet and can spread the miner to new targets.
“The campaign has the potential for exponential growth of infections, with each compromised container acting as a new source of attack, if security measures are not immediately put in place in the potentially targeted networks,” explains Amged Wageh, an incident response and a compromise assessment expert at Kaspersky Security Services.
“Сontainers are foundational to software development, deployment, and scalability. Their widespread use across cloud-native environments, DevOps, and microservices architectures makes them an attractive target for cyber attackers. This growing reliance demands organisations adopt a 360-degree approach to security — combining robust security solutions with proactive threat hunting and regular compromise assessments”.
The attackers embedded the names “nginx” and “cloud” directly in the binary — an inflexible executable file composed of instructions and data for the processor, not for humans. This is a classic masquerading tactic that lets the payload pose as a legitimate tool, trying to deceive both analysts and automated defenses.
News
Manager, Others Arraigned for Allegedly Hacking into Premium Trust Bank’s Server

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Tuesday, charged five defendants before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly hacking into the server of Premium Trust Bank.
The defendants are listed as the bank’s e-payment service manager, Matthew Adeniyi; Kehinde Odeyemi, a nursing mother; Samson Latshin, Bolaji Omotosho and Sunday Okunnola.
They were charged before Justice Alexander Owoeye, on a six-count charge bordering on conspiracy, cybercrime and unlawful access to the bank’s database.
They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Mrs. Zeenat Atiku, prosecutor, alleged that they committed the offence between April and May this year, in collaboration with three others, now at large.
Those still at large are Isa Ismaila, Victor Joshua, also known as ‘Oracle’ as well as one other, simply identified as Humble.
According to the charge, the first defendant unlawfully disclosed sensitive credentials, including the bank’s server IP and domain details, to these parties.
She said this enabled an unauthorised access to the bank’s database and the consequent data breach allegedly resulted in financial gains of $10,000.
The prosecutor also alleged that the defendants attempted to intercept the bank’s network and procured a Hewlett-Packard ProBook 440 G9 laptop (serial No. SN#5CD2473N6G) configured to bypass the bank’s security systems.
The anti-graft agency said the alleged offences contravened the provisions of sections 12(1)(b), 27, 28(1)(b)(c) and 28(3) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition Act, 2015 (as amended in 2024).
Following their pleas, the prosecutor, requested for a trial date and sought an order to remand the defendants in custody.
Meanwhile, the court declined an oral bail by the defence counsel and directed that a formal bail application be filed.
He adjourned the case until June 30, for trial and ordered that the defendants be remanded at the Nigerian correctional centre, pending bail.
The court, however, added that the defence may apply for an earlier trial date, upon filing their bail applications.
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