Health experts confirm that the subvariant BA.5, stemming from the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, is capable of spreading more widely among individuals, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or recently recovered from COVID-19. This was reported by "theatlantic." Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden, stated during a White House briefing yesterday that the new subvariant is rapidly spreading and may account for about 60% of infections currently being observed in the United States.
He added, "Each successive variant has a faster transmission advantage than its predecessor," further warning that, "If you are someone who contracted the virus during the first or even second waves, you may not have much good protection in this current wave."
Fauci's remarks coincide with warnings from health experts worldwide about new strains arising from the Omicron variant, resembling a "stealth variant" that can reinfect individuals within weeks of their prior infection. Andrew Robertson, the chief health officer in Western Australia, noted in media statements, "What we are seeing is an increasing number of people who were infected with BA.2 and then got reinfected after four weeks."
Fauci pointed out that new strains will continue to pose a threat to society as long as the virus continues to spread unchecked, stating, "But we should not let it disrupt our lives, while at the same time, we must acknowledge that we need to deal with it." He added that one reason for the spread of new Omicron variants is their ability to evade "antibodies and the ineffectiveness of current vaccines against them."
Rochelle Walensky from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mentioned during the White House briefing that "it is likely that individuals with prior infections, even with BA.1 or BA.2, are still at risk of contracting BA.4 or BA.5."
In the same context, researcher and physician Dan Barouch found through a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that there is a threefold decrease in neutralizing antibodies from vaccines and infections against BA.4 and BA.5, much lower than those against BA.1 and BA.2. Barouch told CNN, "It is likely that vaccine immunity will continue to provide significant protection against the severe symptoms caused by the BA.4 and BA.5 variants."
Daily case numbers in the United States continue to hover around 100,000, but most health experts agree that this figure does not accurately reflect the number of infections, as many depend on home testing. Meanwhile, hospital admissions have risen by 18% over the past two weeks in the U.S., according to the New York Times.
Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the WHO, remarked that the goal is not to prevent all cases of transmission but to work on reducing its spread, stating, "It is not over, and we are playing with fire by allowing this virus to spread at such severe levels."
In a related note, Megan Call, an epidemiologist at the UK Health Security Agency, affirmed that new variants are spreading significantly among individuals who have never contracted the virus, indicating that about half of those infected in the current wave in England are experiencing the illness for the first time. She noted that individuals with the new subvariant represent only 15% of the country's population, adding, "While recurrent infection is a serious problem, the population still enjoys some protection against certain new subvariants."
According to Call, the impact of the BA.5 variant will significantly differ across the globe, explaining that both South Africa and the UK have only seen slight increases in hospitalizations and deaths despite rising BA.5 cases, indicating that, "vaccine protection against severe illness and death remains strong."
However, Portugal has been particularly unfortunate, as deaths have risen to levels close to those seen during the initial spread of the Omicron variant. Call explained that such differences between communities and countries should be anticipated due to several factors, including how widely the virus previously spread, the rate of infection, the types of vaccines received, and the nature of the circulating strains.
