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Two Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 are responsible for the current increase in coronavirus infections around the world. They are considered to be the most contagious of all the SARS-CoV-2 virus incarnations to date. They also elude our immunity more effectively than the previous ones. “If someone has been infected with BA.1 there is no good protection against BA.4 and BA.5,” says Dr. Anthony Fauci.
- BA.4 and BA.5 sub-options account for a sharp increase in infections even in populations with high immunity due to both vaccination and disease
- Reinfection can occur within six to eight weeks
- Dr. Anthony Fauci emphasizes that people who became infected during the first or second waves caused by Omicron are currently poorly protected
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
Sub-options BA.4 and BA.5 dominate
The United States has been struggling with another wave of coronavirus for two months now. The increases are not very sharp, however, compared, for example, to the January wave, but since the beginning of May the daily average has remained above 100. According to experts, this number is seriously underestimated, because – similarly to Poland – patients test themselves mainly at home, many states have severely limited the number of places where coronavirus infection can be officially checked.
Omikron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 currently dominate, accounting for over 80 percent. cases. This worries the authorities. On Tuesday, a briefing on the epidemic situation in the country was held at the White House.
—Each variant has some advantages over the previous one in terms of transmission speed. And Omikron, as a broad category of sub-options, is extremely problematic, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the country’s chief expert on COVID-19.
Fauci: you can get sick again
He added that people who became infected during the first or second waves caused by Omicron are currently little protected from the current sub-variants.
It is obvious that our immunity is weakening, whether it was obtained through vaccination or infection. We have the latest data showing that if someone has been infected with BA.1 there is no good protection against BA.4 and BA.5, he said.
The Omikron in the BA.1 sub-variant arrived in the US at the end of last year, replacing the then dominant Delta variant. There has been no new variant since then, only Omicron sub-variants are detected, with each successive moving faster and faster.
Fauci stressed that the multi-country data clearly showed the very high potential of BA.4 and BA.5 to reinfect, so he appealed to all those who had not yet vaccinated or had done so to an incomplete degree to catch up as soon as possible.
In the United States, people aged 50 and over are eligible for a second booster dose. Therefore, the administration of President Joe Biden encourages these people to report to vaccination centers. This also applies to younger immunocompromised people.
Infection with the early Omicron sub-variants does not protect against the present
Back in May, the USA was dominated by the sub-variant BA.2 and its mutation BA.2.12.1. Two months later, it was replaced by BA.5 and BA.4, which were first observed there in late March. Experts believe that these are the most infectious incarnations of the coronavirus, and they have a unique ability to avoid immunity acquired by any route.
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People infected with BA.1 did not re-infect with BA.2 because they were both very similar to each other, emphasizes Dr. Amesh Adalja, researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. But a person who has had COVID-19 from these sub-variants is likely to get infected with BA.4 or BA.5 – thinks.
According to data from the US and Australia, there are an increasing number of cases where patients with a BA.2 infection re-infect with BA.4 or BA.5 within six to eight weeks.
Vaccines still provide protection against severe disease and death for the current variants, but to a lesser extent than for the first two. And even then, the resistance was lower by about 15 percent. compared to the Delta variant.
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