You don’t need to worry about the BA.2 subvariant of the omicron variant yet, experts said.
The news: Scientists have recently pointed out that a subvariant of the omicron variant — called BA.2, or “stealth omicron” — has been accounting for more and more COVID-19 cases, proving to be more contagious than the original omicron variant.
Yes, but: Experts told USA Today that there’s no reason to be overly concerned for the BA.2 variant.
What they’re saying: “I don’t think it’s going to cause the degree of chaos and disruption, morbidity and mortality that BA.1 did,” Dr. Jacob Lemieux, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, told USA Today. “I’m cautiously optimistic that we’re going to continue to move to a better place and, hopefully, one where each new variant on the horizon isn’t news.”
State of play: Last weekend, scientists started to note that the BA.2 subvariant — which has 32 mutations in common with the BA.1 variant — was accounting for more cases of COVID-19, as I reported for the Deseret News.
- There’s also a BA.3 subvariant, which has additional changes to the BA.1 variant, according to the World Health Organization.
- Denmark, the United Kingdom, Singapore and India have seen a number of cases linked to BA.2 and BA.3 subvariants, per Insider.
What’s next: Scientists are keeping an eye on the BA.2 variant. Per CBS News, health officials hope to find out if it evades COVID-19 vaccines more or causes more severe COVID-19 symptoms.