There are already dozens of cases of a new Covid subvariant that is even more infectious than the already highly transmissible omicron variant.
According to a global data base that tracks Covid variant, nearly half of the U.S. states have confirmed the presence of BA.2 with at least 127 known cases nationwide as of Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement Friday that although BA.2 has increased in proportion to the original omicron strain in some countries, it is currently circulating at a low level in the U.S.
The original omicron strain is 1.5 times more transmissible than the subvariant, according to Statens Serum Institut.
According to the U.K. Health Security Agency, the new sublineage doesn't appear to further reduce the effectiveness of vaccines.
There is no evidence that the BA.2 lineage is more severe than the BA.1 lineage, according to the CDC.
According to Troels Lillebaek, the chairman of the committee that conducts surveillance of Covid variant, the original omicron was overtaken by BA.2 over the course of a few weeks.
There are many differences between BA.1 and BA.2. The difference between BA.1 and BA.2 is greater than the difference between the original wild strain and the Alpha variant.
Lillebaek told CNBC that the BA.2 variant has five unique alterations on a key part of the spikeProtein the virus uses to attach to human cells and invade them. Higher transmissibility is often associated with higher levels of the receptor binding domain.
The U.K. Health Security Agency said that BA.2 has a growth advantage over the original omicron. The sister variant spread faster than the original in all regions of England, according to the agency.
A preliminary assessment shows that the effectiveness of vaccines is the same as before. Two weeks after receiving the shot, the booster dose was 70% more effective than the original one.
The World Health Organization does not have a variant of concern. As omicron spreads across the world at an unprecedented rate, WHO officials have warned that new variant will arise. The next Covid will be more transmissible, according to Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's Covid-19 technical lead.
The next variant of concern will be more transmissible because it will have to overtake what is currently circulating.
Lillebaek said there is not enough data yet to determine if BA.2 is able to reinfect people who caught the original omicron. Some immunity to BA.2 would be provided by prior infections.
Pfizer and Moderna started clinical trials this week on omicron-specific shots, amid growing concern that new versions will emerge as immunity fades from the original vaccines.
In a country of 5.8 million people, more than 50,000 new Covid cases were reported on Friday. Lillebaek said that it is safe to assume that the increase of new infections is due to BA.2
The number of new hospital admissions in the country increased by 12. Lillebaek said the increase is likely within the limits of the health system. He noted that 80% of Danes have been fully vaccineed.
If you live in a country with a low vaccination rate, you will have more admissions to hospital and more severe cases.
According to data from the CDC, about 70% of eligible people in the U.S. are fully vaccineed.
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