COVID Omicron BA.4 and BA.5: What We Know So Far
We're definitely not yet out of the woods because the COVID-19 Omicron variant still threatens us
From the original version, it has spawned four other varieties
Officially joining the list are BA.4 and BA.5. Can these two render current vaccines useless?
The Omicron variant might be the biggest reason why the pandemic is still on
Some areas have steady spikes of new cases, like South Africa where subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 were first identified
Local authorities seem to believe that these two are responsible for the rapid increase in positive tests for COVID-19 in the country
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, BA.4 and BA.5 are classified under the Omicron variant and are not a new set of variants of concern
However, their emergence means another fresh combination of mutations
These two share common things with Omicron BA.1 and BA.2, yet got something different: 69 to 70 deletion
The two are mentioned together often for they have similar spike mutations, though their mutations aren't the same outside the spike gene
That said, any unique symptoms?
Right now, it's too early to tell if any new symptoms are linked to these two
But don't forget that both are Omicron subvariants, so they likely share symptoms with the rest under the parent variant
In terms of spread, BA.4 and BA.5 are no longer contained in South Africa
As per the UK Health Security Agency, BA.4 already reached several countries, including Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Israel, Botswana, Australia, the US, and the UK
Meanwhile, BA.5 is already in multiple territories, such as the UK, the US, Germany, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Canada, and Spain
Some of these nations have reported both subvariants in the data up to April 2022
"The Omicrons are an extraordinarily contagious family. There are some data that say these subvariants are even more contagious," said Infectious Diseases Professor William Schaffner at Vanderbilt University, per Medical News Today
Experts are presently in the dark, which means they don't know how major these two will become
But vaccine alliance GAVI revealed new insights
First, BA.4 and BA.5 were spotted early this year: BA.4 in January and BA.5 in February
Second, their prevalence is growing from less than 1% in January to over 35% before April ended in South Africa for BA.4, while BA.5 stood at 20% by the end of April
Third, BA.4 and BA.5 can dodge antibodies from previous Omicron infection to some degree
However, antibodies from vaccines were more likely to work against these two
Since there's that chance to escape immunity, experts know that both subvariants can cause trouble and lead to another COVID wave
If you've been infected by Omicron before, your immunity won't necessarily work on these two
Did you feel concerned about these new Omicron subvariants?
Are you still following preventive measures?
Share your thoughts in the comment section
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