Thread by @FLAHAULT

1/9 - "Scientists who track coronavirus mutations are closely monitoring an uptick in cases of an #Omicron sub-variant named BA.2, just as countries were beginning to hope the worst of the latest wave of #COVID19 infections had passed."
ft.com/content/efa3ce…

2/9 - "The strain has been detected in 57 countries, according to the WHO, and now accounts for about 10% of #SARSCoV2 sequences uploaded to Gisaid. Omicron BA.1 is still responsible for most cases. Nevertheless, BA.2 has become the dominant variant in DK, India and S. Africa."

3/9 - "BA.2 possesses up to 27 mutations that are not found in the original version of #Omicron, BA.1. Separate research from public health bodies in DK and the UK looking at household transmission indicate that these mutations make BA.2 30%-34% more infectious than BA.1."

4/9 - "The Danish study, found BA.2 has immune-evasive properties that further reduce the protective effect of vacc. against infection, compared with BA.1. But BA.2 does not increase the likelihood of vaccinated people passing on the virus once infected."
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

5/9 - "UKHSA data found vaccines may be slightly more effective against the #Omicron subtype than the original. Booster shots were 63% effective against symptomatic infection from BA.1, compared with 70% against BA.2, at least two weeks after the dose was administered."

6/9 - "We might expect that there would be some reinfections because in many cases the immune response to #Omicron may not be a particularly strong one. But I think it’s very unlikely that it’s going to break through the immunity from BA.1. It’s definitely not a game-changer.”

7/9 - "Boris Pavlin,from the WHO’s #COVID19 response team, stressed BA.2 did not appear to be changing the picture in hospitals in countries where it is spreading fast. Looking at other countries where BA.2 is now overtaking,we’re not seeing any higher bumps in hospitalisation."

8/9 - "Despite early data suggesting BA.2 is even more transmissible than its sister strain, several countries where it is dominant have pressed ahead with dropping Covid restrictions put in place during the original #Omicron outbreak, citing limited hospital pressures."

9/9 - "Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the #Omicron offshoot is testing the city’s #ZeroCovid strategy.
“The equation has changed as what has worked for us in the past might not be as effective as it’s so much more transmissible,” Dr Siddharth Sridhar, a clinical virologist at HKU".