BA.2
The good news for now is that vaccines still appear to protect against it - Umair Irfan
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We regret to inform you that we are now discussing subvariants
BA.2 is an iteration, not a revolution. It’s no surprise that the coronavirus is continuing to evolve: The more people the virus infects, the greater the chances that it will mutate. And with omicron infections already peaking in many countries, BA.2 might not trigger major new spikes. But some estimates show that it’s more than 1.5 times as transmissible as BA.1, and that could slow down the decline in cases...
Vaccines still appear to reduce the spread of BA.2 and cut the rates of severe disease...
Resources
The good and bad news about the current Covid-19 wave
Even if BA.2 doesn’t spark a nationwide surge, it still poses dangers.
America Is Staring Down Its First So What? Wave
The United States could be in for a double whammy: a surge it cares to neither measure nor respond to.
BA.2, COVID's 'Stealth Omicron' Variant, Is Rising Globally. Should We Be Worried?
Scientists have said it doesn't appear to cause more severe disease than regular omicron, though it's more transmissible.
COVID Wave That Hits Children Hardest Is Headed to the U.S.
The main worry is long COVID. Even if it doesn’t kill them, SARS-CoV-2 could make a lot of kids very sick for a very long time.
COVID-19 Could Be Surging in the U.S. Right Now and We Might Not Even Know It
Despite groundbreaking scientific advances like vaccines and antivirals, public health experts say the U.S.’s Covid defenses appear to be getting weaker as time goes on, not stronger.
Here We Go Again: The BA.2 Version of Omicron
BA.1 and its siblings seem to be a threat mainly to those who are unvaccinated, haven’t been boosted, or haven’t been infected recently—including in countries with Zero-COVID policies.
Officials limit an antibody therapy, saying it’s ineffective against BA.2 variant of Omicron
Notably, sotrovimab maintained its effectiveness against the first form of Omicron that became dominant, the BA.1 lineage. But several lab studies in recent weeks have indicated the therapy loses much of its ability to neutralize the BA.2 lineage.
Omicron: what do we know about ‘stealth’ subvariant BA.2?
The good news, he said, was that vaccines and boosters still “keep people out of the hospital and keep people from dying”.
The good and bad news about the current Covid-19 wave
Even if BA.2 doesn’t spark a nationwide surge, it still poses dangers.
The W.H.O. says the BA.2 subvariant of Omicron is driving most cases around the world
Globally, BA.2 made up about 86 percent of cases reported to the W.H.O. between Feb. 16 and March 17, the agency said in a report on Tuesday. The previously dominant subvariants, BA.1 and BA.1.1, together represented about 13 percent of the cases.
This New COVID Variant Is the Most Unpredictable One Yet
Experts are baffled as to why the BA.2 COVID variant is running completely rampant in some countries while sparing others with softer blows.
What to Know About the BA.2 Omicron Variant, the New Covid Strain
Viruses mutate all the time and diversification within a variant is normal. The earlier Delta variant comprised more than 200 sublineages before it was replaced by Omicron, according to Francois Balloux, director of the University College London Genetics Institute.
With All Eyes on BA.2, Here's What Experts Say Might Happen in the U.S.
No one knows for sure what will happen next, and some experts are somewhat split in their predictions—but the consensus seems to be one of cautious optimism. Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical advisor and head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on March 20 there will likely be an “uptick” in U.S. cases this spring, but “hopefully, we won’t see a surge. I don’t think we will.”
‘Stealth Omicron’ is spreading slowly in the US
Mutations are normal in common viruses, but that doesn't mean they're all harmless.
‘Stealth’ Omicron Is Stealthy No More: What’s Known About the BA.2
The subvariant of Omicron is becoming more common in the United States but probably won’t cause another large spike.
We regret to inform you that we are now discussing subvariants
There’s yet another twist in the pandemic: The omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, now has a “subvariant” that seems to spread more quickly than any other version of the coronavirus to date. The good news for now is that vaccines still appear to protect against it.
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