As the Omicron sub-variant (first discovered in late 2021) continues to spread, here's what we know about its characteristics, including vaccine effectiveness.
As of February 25, data from the U.K.'s Health Security Agency showed that BA.2 accounted for 30.5 percent of sequenced cases in the country during the previous week. This compares to data from up to January 31, when BA.2 accounted for just 4.1 percent of cases there.
As BA.2 spreads, scientists have worked to find out more about it. New data has revealed clues as to whether the sub-variant is more likely to leave people hospitalized than BA.1, or whether it is more able to resist vaccines. "Two weeks after a booster dose vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease with the BA.2 variant was 67 percent," the report added.had made headlines earlier this month because it suggested that BA.2 could be capable of causing more severe disease based on infected hamsters. However, experts said animal tests are not always relevant to humans.
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