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Just as the Omicron wave may have broken across the U.S. comes word of another version of the more transmissible variant, dubbed BA.2.
It’s been nicknamed by some “stealth Omicron” because it seems to evade identification better than its predecessor.
While other new variants that seemed worrisome — like Mu or Lambda — have had little impact, and details remain sketchy, early indications are that BA.2 seems to be spreading even in countries where the original Omicron lineage, BA.1, is dominant.
In Denmark, a country whose Covid policies are often contrasted with the U.S., BA.2 now accounts for nearly half of the test samples sequenced. In the final week of December, according to data from Statens Serum Institut under the auspices of the Danish Ministry of Health, the subvariant accounted for 20% of all Covid cases in Denmark. By the second week of January, its share had risen to about 45% of the total.
“During the same period, the relative frequency of BA.1 has dropped,” according to a statement from the institute. “BA.1 and BA.2 have many differences in their mutations in the most important areas. In fact, the difference between BA.1 and BA.2 is greater than the difference between the original variant and the Alpha variant.”
An initial analysis instances of BA.2 in the country “shows no differences in hospitalisations,” according to SSI. It’s also unclear how effective the current vaccines are against the subvariant.
Great Britain, Norway, France, India and Sweden are also experiencing cases of the Omicron offshoot to lesser degrees, as is the U.S. See map below and a fuller list here.
www.yahoo.com
New Omicron Offshoot BA.2 Arrives In U.S. After Spreading In U.K., Denmark, India
Just as the Omicron wave may have broken across the U.S. comes word of another version of the more transmissible variant, dubbed BA.2.
It’s been nicknamed by some “stealth Omicron” because it seems to evade identification better than its predecessor.
While other new variants that seemed worrisome — like Mu or Lambda — have had little impact, and details remain sketchy, early indications are that BA.2 seems to be spreading even in countries where the original Omicron lineage, BA.1, is dominant.
In Denmark, a country whose Covid policies are often contrasted with the U.S., BA.2 now accounts for nearly half of the test samples sequenced. In the final week of December, according to data from Statens Serum Institut under the auspices of the Danish Ministry of Health, the subvariant accounted for 20% of all Covid cases in Denmark. By the second week of January, its share had risen to about 45% of the total.
“During the same period, the relative frequency of BA.1 has dropped,” according to a statement from the institute. “BA.1 and BA.2 have many differences in their mutations in the most important areas. In fact, the difference between BA.1 and BA.2 is greater than the difference between the original variant and the Alpha variant.”
An initial analysis instances of BA.2 in the country “shows no differences in hospitalisations,” according to SSI. It’s also unclear how effective the current vaccines are against the subvariant.
Great Britain, Norway, France, India and Sweden are also experiencing cases of the Omicron offshoot to lesser degrees, as is the U.S. See map below and a fuller list here.
