“Is it too soon to call Omicron a vaccination?”
That is kind of the hope - that Omnicron will induce effective immunity, more safely than other variants. Neither of those characteristics have been confirmed yet, however.
I have seen some estimates that Omnicron is by far the fastest spreading variant - dramatically faster than Delta. I did not expect to see anything significantly faster than Delta.
One estimate that was posted on Free Republic, was that while Delta had a 70% advantage over the original strain for transmission, Omnicron was more like a 500% advantage.
If masks and lockdowns were ineffective in containing earlier variants, they would seem likely to provide even less delay against this variant. So this may be a mandatory (inescapable) form of inducing immunity - like a vaccination program of sorts.
I would guess that it is already seeded around the world, and in the United States. Two cases were reported in Ontario yesterday.
Let’s hope that it is not very lethal, and that it is effective in inducing broad immunity to COVID-19.
“I did not expect to see anything significantly faster than Delta.”
What was the basis of your opinion?
Are you an epidemiologist, immunologist or vaccinologist?
If not, what possible value would your opinion on transmissibility hold?