The New Variant Of COVID Has Been Redubbed The ‘Omarion Variant’ By Cheeky Fans

R&B fans might have been surprised to wake up to find singer Omarion’s name trending on Twitter this morning, as he hasn’t announced a new album and isn’t the type to get himself into the sort of legal trouble that usually prompts widespread discussion of a legacy artist. Instead, curious Twitter users would have found that there’s a new variant of COVID-19 roaming the streets, after “Black Twitter” noticed the similarities between “omicron” and “Omarion” and have apparently decided the latter is not only much catchier but also riper for making memes.

And so, we’ve gotten a slew of clips from Omarion’s 2005 “Touch” video with cheeky captions like, “Not the Omarion variant and the booster having a lil tussle” and “The Omarion Variant chasing me down like.” There are also other jokey captions roasting the singer’s recent performance in Chicago that has apparently gone (ahem) viral on TikTok, with one user quipping, “They say in order to keep the Omarion Variant away, you have to do this routine 3 times in the mirror.”

Of course, in the face of a scary new mutation of the COVID-19 virus, using a little humor to lighten the mood serves an important purpose even as it highlights the need for these scientists to come up with better names for things (I’m no Greek expert, but it seems like they skipped a bunch of letters between delta and omicron, no?). Still, though, get your vaccine, if you’re vaccinated, get your booster, and continue to practice safety measures like distancing and wearing a mask in public — we’re not out of the woods yet. Check out more “Omarion variant” jokes below.