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BA2 Covid Variant

BA2 Covid Variant

BA2 Covid Variant Updates

Lekhya Kollu Contributing Writer

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With vaccinations and previous infections building people’s immunity to old strains of SARS-CoV2, new variants that evade immune responses are gaining center stage. The latest of these variants is BA.2, a descendent of Omicron. In January, the World Health Organization reported rising BA.2 infections in Denmark, India, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, BA.2 has been detected in four states: California, New Mexico, Washington, and Texas.

BA.2, like Omicron, has many mutations from the original virus, including 20 in its antibody-binding regions. These are the regions that vaccines help the immune system target, and so mutations in these regions make it harder for vaccines to be effective. Furthermore, BA.2 has also been dubbed the “stealth variant,” because it is missing mutations on its spike proteins that make it harder to identify using PCR tests.

While it’s still unclear just how effective vaccines will be against BA.2, the growing body of research on previous variants has shown vaccines are effective at both short- and longterm immunity for all variants. For the short-term, vaccines provide protection against infection. However, as Moderna reported about its vaccine last week, even after a booster dose is given, the antibodies that can fully neutralize the virus lose effectiveness after six months. For the longer term, however, the vaccine is still good at preventing serious illness and hospitalization for every variant thus far.

As stated by a member of the WHO’s COVID-19 Response Team, Dr. Boris Pavlin, “Looking at other countries where BA.2 is now overtaking, we’re not seeing any higher bumps in hospitalization than expected.”

While likely not more virulent, evidence from early studies seems to suggest BA.2 may be more transmissible than the already highly transmissible Omicron variant. According to a paper published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), contact tracing data showed that transmission to contacts of BA.2 cases is at 13.4 percent, compared to 10.3 percent for other Omicron cases.

Overall, there is no immediate cause for concern surrounding the BA.2 variant. The goal should be merely to reduce transmission of all variants by keeping up the same practices of masking, hand washing and social distancing used throughout the pandemic.

Courtesty Getty Images / IStock Photos

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