Omicron variant may have picked up a piece of common-cold virus

If you want to stay on top of Omicron/Coronovirus info, follow Dr. John Campbell on YouTube. He is the most up to date source I am aware of and covers things you often never hear anywhere else and if you do takes weeks or longer before anyone else talks about it. https://www.youtube.com/c/Campbellteaching/videos

This would have been infinitely more interesting it was something like rhinovirus. But in this case it appears to be gene swapping with another coronavirus, which is not very interesting from a high-level perspective, though I'm sure noteworthy for those researching the finer mechanics of viral evolution.

If the new variant picked up a piece of a common-cold coronavirus, does it means that:

- You are better protected against Omicron if you caught the "right" cold

- An Omicron infection (or maybe a vaccine) can protect against some common colds

- As a last resort, deliberately infecting people with HCoV-229E will help

- We should include all the endemic coronaviruses in our vaccines

I have a feeling that all the answers are "no", but I just enjoy the idea of having some common cold viruses take collateral damage.

> likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up a snippet of genetic material from another virus

> picking up a snippet

whaaaaaaaa?! How does a virus "pick up a snippet"?? Did they mean it coincidentally mutated to have the same sequence? How would it combine with another virus, and why hasn't it done this last year?

Way too early to draw any conclusions at all, but if it is true that omicron is both more contagious and produces more mild symptoms, that is almost better news than the vaccines.