BA.2.75.2 (subvariant of #Centaurus) is one to watch. Early data suggests Omicron BA.2.75.2 exhibits more extreme antibody escape than any variant to date. It’s too early to know whether this will result in a wave
Further explanation here. Neutralizing antibody levels for vaccinated & (overwhelmingly) infected serum is >5-fold lower than BA.5 & nearly 4-fold lower than BA.4.6
Medical teams in Pune, India have looked at clinical symptoms of those infected with Omicron BA.2.75.2 and didn't find major changes in presentation or outcome from previous variants. m.timesofindia.com/city/mumbai/st…
Based on relative growth advantage estimates from Cov-Spectrum - BA.2.75.2* lineage could outcompete BA.4.6* and BF.7*
More on the evolution of highly concerning variants such as Omicron BA.2.75.2, BR.1, BJ.1, and BQ.1.1 and what this convergence evolution could lead to.
Ayesha Verrall on the most recent changes to Covid settings:
“I advocated for this package to be adopted.”
There was an obvious reluctance to step up protections in the future, because the government has promised "certainty" that events will go ahead. 1/
The certainty of summer festivals and events appears to be more important than preventing infection or allowing medically vulnerable people to safely access public transport or to participate in society.
Ableism, we see you.
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Q: Would there be restrictions again?
A: Gov takes into account economic/social impacts & population immunity.
That’s circular logic. Allow Covid to infect everyone. When new variants arrive gov claims people have natural immunity so no need to protect people from (re)infection
When asked if COVID was going to be with us forever, like cancer and heart disease, and be one of our biggest killers @DrAndrewOld said we would be “very unlikely” to eliminate it from the world but hopefully it would be manageable with an annual vaccine like influenza. 1/
Dr Old says the jury is out on where cases will plateau but the expectation is that there will be a lull and then future waves, with the possibility of a wave over summer.
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Although the current wave is mostly over, MOH modelling suggests that the dropping of protections could result in an uptick of 10-20% of cases in the next few weeks before settling down to slightly higher than current levels (+2-4%).
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