Omicron XE emerges as SARS-CoV-2 keeps evolving

Emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concerns and the newly designated recombinant lineage Omicron XE

Since the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in 2019, the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the virus keeps evolving as transmission continues globally. On November 26, 2021, a highly divergent variant with a high number of mutations, the Omicron (PANGO lineage B1.1.529),1 was designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a variant of concern (VOC). The Omicron variant has been spreading rapidly than any other previous variants of SARS-CoV-2, and is currently the dominant variant worldwide that accounts for more than 95% of sequenced cases submitted to GISAID.