Is BA.2 causing a new surge in some places? Will current vaccines be less effective against BA.2 than the main Omicron subtype? Here's what we know:
Scientists and health officials are keeping their eyes on BA.2, a descendant of Omicron that’s been found in at least 40 countries.L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Thursday that epidemiologists have noticed the BA.2 sublineage of Omicron is spreading slightly faster in some countries than other mutations of Omicron.
“We don’t yet know how BA.2 might be different from other Omicron lineages. And scientists will be working rapidly in the coming weeks to learn more about immune evasion, severity and transmissibility,” Ferrer said.“In places that have already passed their peak of Omicron cases, it does appear that BA.2 is causing a new surge,” Ferrer said.It actually does not appear that BA.
“And compared with other Omicron lineages, BA.2 does not really have many unique mutations that would be impacting the part of the virus that’s targeted by our immune system,” Ferrer said.That’s an unanswered question. Ferrer said she hopes surviving an infection of the main Omicron subtype will keep a person immune to being reinfected with BA.2, but the answer is not available yet.Because BA.2 can spread widely, that’s the big concern.
“We’re not at a low enough place, with low enough transmission, for us not to continue to be sensible about precautions,” Ferrer said. “And my hope is that people do continue to be sensible as we get more information about BA.2.” According to a Times analysis of state data released Thursday, reflecting numbers reported through Wednesday, L.A. County is averaging about 29,000 new coronavirus cases a day over the past week, down 34% from the Omicron peak of 44,000 cases a day a couple of weeks ago but still nearly twice as high as last winter’s peak of 16,000 cases a day.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
BA.2, the newly detected version of Omicron, is not a cause for alarm, scientists sayA new spinoff of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is getting attention from scientists as it becomes the dominant cause of Covid-19 infections in some parts of the world. Experts say there's no reason to panic over the lineage, called BA.2.
Read more »
What to know about BA.2, the newest COVID-19 omicron variantIt’s called the “stealth” variant, but there’s nothing particularly stealthy about it. Researchers are working to parse whether it is a new threat.
Read more »
New COVID variant BA.2: What's known about 'stealth' omicron?The new coronavirus variant, which scientists call BA.2, is widely considered stealthier than the original version of omicron because particular genetic traits make it somewhat harder to detect.
Read more »
What you need to know about the fast-spreading BA.2 omicron variantA subvariant of omicron called BA.2 seems to be taking over in many places, but it is not expected to cause yet another wave of cases around the world.
Read more »
UT Southwestern researchers confirm two BA.2 cases in North TexasResearchers confirmed two cases of BA.2, a sub-lineage of the omicron variant, through sequencing at the University of Texas Southwestern on Thursday....
Read more »
Optimismo a medida que Ómicron alcanza su punto máximo en California, pero el nuevo subtipo BA.2 plantea interrogantesLa oleada de Ómicron ha alcanzado su punto álgido, de forma bastante desigual, en California. Pero hay un detalle: la aparición de un subtipo llamado BA.2.
Read more »