SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A new feature at the Sacramento County Public Health Laboratory is now functioning to detect variants of COVID-19, such as the omicron variant.
On Thursday, Dr. Olivia Kasirye, public health officer, announced that the county's lab is now able to conduct genome sequence tests, the method needed to determine which variant of COVID-19 a patient is infected with, after being given a PCR test.
"We've been working on this for a while," Dr. Kasirye said. "We just went live maybe one or two weeks ago."
Previously, COVID-19 tests, marked by county health officials or health care providers as potential variant cases, would be sent to state labs for genome sequence testing. While it is unknown exactly how much the new lab feature will speed up the process of identifying variant cases in Sacramento County, Samantha Mott, a county health department spokesperson, says, "This will significantly cut down the time it takes to receive results."
The Sacramento County Health Laboratory will identify which COVID tests should receive the additional genome sequencing testing.
"At this time if there is a history of travel, those are specimens we are interested in," Dr. Kasirye said. "We will also be looking at situations where we have outbreaks or increases in cases or if we have someone who is severely ill or a breakthrough infection after full vaccination."
While the new feature has the capacity to detect the omicron variant, the county has not reported any cases yet, according to the county's COVID-19 dashboard.
"Right now, almost all of our specimens are still showing the Delta variant but having this capability will allow us to do surveillance and look out for the omicron variant as well" Dr. Kasirye said.
The first case of the omicron variant in the United States was detected by a lab in San Francisco Wednesday.
"There's a lot we are still learning"
There's still many things unknown about this new strain, but Sacramento County Public Health says it is a variant of concern because of a high number of mutations and potentially more severe symptoms.
"There's a lot we are still learning," Dr. Kasirye said. "We just need to continue to be vigilant and do the things that we know that will protect everyone."
"It is expected that this variant will spread," she added. "I think there are also some new questions about whether it will become the dominant variant and replace the delta variant."
Public Health said that in recent weeks there has been an increased demand for vaccination appointments for various reasons. This is why retail pharmacies and medical providers are adding more staff and appointment availability in the coming weeks.
Over in Roseville, a community vaccine clinic at the Maidu Community Center saw no shortage of people getting either their COVID vaccination or their booster dose.
"It's important because safety wise, health wise, we want to be safe and keep our in-laws and kids safe," said Eric and Leslie Miramon, who received their booster shot at the clinic.
The Miramons scheduled their booster dose appointment before they even heard about the omicron variant, but they say that they're glad to have an extra layer of protection.
When it comes to the efficacy of the COVID vaccine against the omicron variant, public health said they should know the answer within the next two weeks.
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