The Omicron variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus makes up the majority of Covid infections worldwide. As experts study this subvariant - which appears to be more transmissible than Delta but less dangerous - questions have been raised about a subtype of Omicron.
Globally, BA.1 accounted for 98.8% of the listed cases filed in the public GISAID virus tracking database as of January 25th. But some countries are reporting recent increases in BA.2, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). BA.2 is a variant closely related to Omicron, but with several mutations that make it different.
Trevor Bedford, a computer virologist has followed the evolution of Sars-CoV-2 and wrote on Twitter on Friday that BA.2 represents approximately 82% of cases in Denmark, 9% in the UK and 8% in the US.
Variant BA.2 has been reported in Australia, Denmark, India and the United Kingdom.
Most transmissible?
Some previous reports indicate that BA.2 may be even more contagious than BA.1, but there is no evidence so far that it is more likely to evade vaccine protection. So far, experts say vaccines and booster doses still provide protection by avoiding severe symptoms or hospitalizations.
More dangerous?
"So far, the evidence from our colleagues in Denmark shows that although it may spread faster, there is no evidence of increased severity," said Prof. Seshadri Vasan, a researcher on the Covid-19 vaccine. "It is therefore important to maintain calm and continue existing measures, such as vaccination, including booster dosing, social distance, masks and local guidelines."
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