The BA.2.75 mutation is frightening. Virologist: there is a risk that the immunity provided by the vaccine will run out

Another Omicron sub-variant was detected in India in early June. It was marked with the symbol BA.2.75, and also functions as a Centaur (Centaurus). However, this is not an official name. BA.2.75 is a concern for scientists due to the greater number of mutations. – Eight new mutations in the BA.2.75 spike protein pose a risk of even more effective escape from the immune response developed not only after vaccination, but also after contact with the parental variant or other sub-variants of Omikron – says Prof. Agnieszka Szuster-Ciesielska from the Department of Virology and Immunology at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin.

1. Sub-variant BA.2.75 was detected in India, so far it has appeared in at least 10 countries, including European countries. He has not yet reached Poland
2. There is no data yet on whether this sub-variant causes more severe disease
3. However, as Prof. Agnieszka Szuster-Ciesielska, «All Omikron sub-variants give the so-called narrow immunity, which means that one can become infected with one sub-variant after another, even within a short time interval »
4. How to protect yourself against this sub-variant? Prof. Szuster has a simple piece of advice: vaccinate yourself first
5. You can find more up-to-date information on the TvoiLokony home page

Adrian Dąbek, Medonet: What is known about the BA.2.75 variant?

Prof. Agnieszka Szuster-Ciesielska: Not much so far. Sub-variant BA.2.75 is a descendant of and differs significantly from BA.2. Eight new mutations in the BA.2.75 spike protein risk even more effectively escaping the immune response developed not only after vaccination, but also after exposure to the parent variant or other Omikron sub-variants. It spreads significantly faster than other variants.

BA.2.75 appeared in India in May, and since BA.5 was in the minority there, it has become dominant and is now present in 10 countries. However, it is still unknown whether BA.2.75 causes significantly different symptoms of the disease and whether it is more severe. I have not heard such information yet. I would add that WHO has included this sub-variant in the list of worrying and monitored variants.

The data show that an outbreak of COVID-19 due to contact with the first Omicron sub-variants (BA.1 and BA.2) provides little protection against new BA.4 and BA.5. Is there such a risk for BA.2.75 as well?

All sub-variants of the Omikron give the so-called narrow immunity, that is, one can become infected with one sub-variant after another, even with a short interval of time. I read a Danish study that even says there is a three-week period between infection with BA.1 and BA.4 or BA.5. Patients become infected and also have symptomatic disease.

This shows that the sublines that germinated from the Omikron differ in their immune profile, which translates into more frequent reinfections. Overall, Omikron’s risk of reinfection is eight times greater than that of the earlier variants. Since we have several sub-variants within the Omicron that give narrow immunity, we can become infected several times. However, there is no guarantee that subsequent reinfections will be milder.

What should we do to minimize the risk of infection if this sub-variant appears in Poland?

We basically only have two options. First, get vaccinated. By this I mean the EMA recommendation, strongly recommending a second booster dose to people aged 60 and over. I am aware that the effectiveness of vaccines in protection against Omicron and its sub-variants is lower, but still protects to a large extent against severe course, which is especially important in the case of elderly people who have additional burdens in the form of various diseases. In the Czech Republic, starting today, the second booster dose is given to all applicants for two reasons – the short-term immunity afforded by the previous vaccination and the dominance of new sub-variants.

The second thing is to turn to non-pharmacological solutions that have been known for a long time. Although they will not protect us 100%. but they will significantly reduce the risk of virus transmission. I mean hygiene, keeping distance and walking with masks. Therefore, I am unpleasantly surprised by the position of the Minister of Health, who recommended wearing masks in populated places only for the elderly. And yet it has been proven that only wearing masks by all people in such places reduces the risk of transmitting the virus to a much greater extent than if only some of these people did.

An additional gateway is the administration of drugs dedicated to SARS-CoV-2. But again – in Poland they are currently unavailable. In addition, we must bear in mind that viruses can develop resistance to these drugs, for example, two mutations that make the coronavirus insensitive to Paxlovid have already been detected.

To sum up, the most effective in the epidemic situation we have today is the Swiss cheese strategy, i.e. the combination of all these activities at the same time.

With the second booster, we should wait until vaccines against Omikron are available or vaccinate with what we have?

In my opinion, there is no point in waiting for updated vaccines. For one thing, we’re not XNUMX% sure that these current boosters will actually arrive in September. Secondly, there is an increasing group of people who have passed the period of five or six months from the moment of the first booster dose, and therefore their resistance to new sub-variants has significantly decreased and it should be strengthened. Third, we now have an increase in infections in Poland, which will last for an unknown period, and also caused by a sub-variant that eludes immunity.

Coronavirus is a lottery all the time. Although most infections are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, remember about the other face of COVID-19, i.e. long-term consequences. It is estimated that this applies to up to 50 percent. infected people. Regardless of whether the infection was asymptomatic, mild or severe, everyone is equally exposed to sometimes serious, unbearable long-term symptoms that exclude a person from social and work life, sometimes for a very long time.

Finally, there is a question about the name of this BA sub-variant. 2.75. Centaurus is not an official name given by health organizations?

This name was entered by someone on Twitter. And it causes a bit of confusion, especially in the media, and has also been intercepted by some doctors. As a scientist, I have well-established views and rely on specific data. It is WHO that names the variants using the Greek alphabet, and the sub-variants to the appropriate specification. And arbitrary naming such as Centaurus and COVID-22 causes confusion and mess.

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