The subvariant of Omicron variant of the Coronavirus is spreading rapidly all over the world and it is even infecting people vaccinated with booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines.
According to a recent study conducted by Japanese researchers, just like the Omicron variant, its subvariant evades immunity generated by existing Coronavirus vaccines.
Taking to Twitter following the publication of the study, renowned American public health scientist Eric Liang Feigl-Ding penned that BA.2—the subvariant of Omicron variant—can cause serious illness like the older variants including Delta, which emerged first from India.
He said that its capabilities of evading immunity are similar to its predecessor and added that the World Health Organization (WHO) needs to declare the subvariant of the Omicron variant as a ‘variant of concern’ as well.
⚠️Worrisome—New lab experiments from Japan show that #BA2 may have features that make it as capable of causing serious illness as older variants–including Delta! And yet as evasive as old #Omicron cousin BA1. #BA2 🌍 surging—needs upgrade to VOC asap @WHO!https://t.co/j6P3gwxMTk
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) February 18, 2022
Responding to Eric, Technical Lead at WHO’s Health Emergencies Program Maria Van Kerkhove said that WHO is already keeping tabs on BA.2 due to its similarities with its predecessor.
BA.2 is already a VOC. It is Omicron. https://t.co/6subQk0mpe
— Maria Van Kerkhove (@mvankerkhove) February 20, 2022
Note here that the Omicron variant was identified for the first time in South Africa in November last year. It quickly outpaced the Delta variant and became the dominant strain globally within weeks. As more and more countries continue to report its subvariant, it seems that it will become the next dominant strain across the world in the coming future.
