https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/omicron-variant-may-have-picked-up-piece-common-cold-virus-2021-12-03/ -

NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The Omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up a snippet of genetic material from another virus - possibly one that causes the common cold - present in the same infected cells, according to researchers.

This genetic sequence does not appear in any earlier versions of the coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, but is ubiquitous in many other viruses including those that cause the common cold, and also in the human genome, researchers said.

By inserting this particular snippet into itself, Omicron might be making itself look "more human," which would help it evade attack by the human immune system, said Venky Soundararajan of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based data analytics firm nference, who led the https://osf.io/f7txy -

That's interesting. We're all used to the common cold so maybe it will make Omicron a milder disease. I've only seen reports of mild illness from it. Yesterday I saw a report saying that at the moment it appeared to infect unvaccinated people who had already had Covid and vaccinated people regardless of previous Covid infection but it appeared not to be affecting unvaccinated people who had never had Covid. Obviously in Africa, most people are unvaccinated and have had Covid so it doesn't bode well for them if those observations prove to be accurate. Thankfully in all cases it appeared to be mild.