Hello,
Welcome to Insider Healthcare. I'm healthcare editor Leah Rosenbaum, and today in healthcare news:
- Pfizer's top scientist told Insider how the company plans to approach the Omicron variant;
- Omicron didn't necessarily emerge in South Africa, the country was just the first to identify it;
- An FDA advisory panel narrowly backed Merck's COVID-19 antiviral pill molnupiravir.
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![A headshot of Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer's chief scientific officer](https://cdn.businessinsider.nl/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/61844e62326b26001834e6d0.jpg?ver=1638367320)
Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer's chief scientific officerPfizer
![A headshot of Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer's chief scientific officer](https://cdn.businessinsider.nl/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/61844e62326b26001834e6d0.jpg?ver=1638367320)
Pfizer's top scientist Mikael Dolsten tells us the 2 factors that will determine if Omicron is a true threat and shares Pfizer's worst-case-scenario plan
- Omicron could require new vaccines if two factors are met, Pfizer's top scientist told Insider.
- The new variant would need to outcompete Delta globally and reduce protection from the current vaccine.
- Pfizer's Mikael Dolsten shared the plan to have an Omicron-specific shot ready by March 2022.
![An employee at the Afrigen biotechnology company and Vaccine Hub facility, works in a laboratory in Cape Town, on October 05, 2021.](https://cdn.businessinsider.nl/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/61a539bd1f8b8c00195aae90.jpg?ver=1638367325)
A laboratory worker in Cape Town, South Africa, on October 5, 2021.Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images
Southern Africa is not a hotbed of variants — it's just very good at sequencing and spotting them
![An employee at the Afrigen biotechnology company and Vaccine Hub facility, works in a laboratory in Cape Town, on October 05, 2021.](https://cdn.businessinsider.nl/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/61a539bd1f8b8c00195aae90.jpg?ver=1638367325)
- Scientists in South Africa were the first to raise alarm bells about Omicron, alerting the WHO last Wednesday.
- But that doesn't necessarily mean the variant came from southern Africa, it's more of an indication of the region's robust surveillance system.
- "We just rang the bell, which allowed everybody else to realize that actually this was maybe going on unnoticed," one South African virus detective said.
![Capsules of molnupiravir, an antiviral drug developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics that could treat COVID-19](https://cdn.businessinsider.nl/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/6156e59cb414c1001863447f.jpg?ver=1638367329)
Molnupiravir is an experimental oral antiviral developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics that could treat COVID-19Merck
An FDA expert panel narrowly supports the first COVID-19 pill but suggests restrictions on its use driven by safety concerns
![Capsules of molnupiravir, an antiviral drug developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics that could treat COVID-19](https://cdn.businessinsider.nl/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/6156e59cb414c1001863447f.jpg?ver=1638367329)
- The first COVID-19 pill is closer to reality, as an FDA panel voted in favor on Tuesday.
- But the group also recommended limiting its use to people at high risk of severe disease.
- Merck's drug reduced hospitalizations and deaths by 30% compared to a placebo.
More stories we're reading:
- Dr. Anthony Fauci says we should do 8 things to deal with the Omicron variant (Insider)
- A new study finds that some hospitals are charging much more for medical scans compared to others (The Wall Street Journal)
- Supreme Court shuts down request to let Massachusetts hospital staff sidestep vaccine mandate (Insider)
- An energy company is trying to start drilling next to a day care in Texas, despite risks to kids' health (Texas Observer)
-Leah