What to know about BA.2, the newest COVID-19 omicron variant. Researchers are working to parse whether it is a new threat.
Preliminary research in Denmark, where cases involving BA.2 are rising, suggest that the subvariant may be more contagious than the original omicron strain, which was already the most transmissible known variant to date.
That type of rapid growth could indicate that BA.2 is more contagious than the original omicron strain, but more research is needed. Danish health officials said in a news briefing Wednesday that while the BA.2 subtype seems more contagious, there are no indications that it has an impact on hospitalizations or deaths.“Severity takes some time to figure out, and it’s often murky,” Wolfe said. “When these things crop up again, they tend to affect younger, more mobile parts of the population first that might not end up in hospitals anyway because they’re otherwise fit and health.
And while the omicron variant caused less severe disease overall, the sheer number of infections during this wave isDr. Dale Bratzler, the chair of the Department of Health Administration and Policy at the University of Oklahoma’s Hudson College of Public Health, said it’s reasonable to think the vaccines will hold up similarly well with the BA.2 subvariant. But he added that certain parts of the population will be more vulnerable than others, as has been the case throughout the pandemic.