Newsman: A new sub variant of Omicron namely “the stealth variant “is spreading rapidly in some parts of the world. BA.2, the newly detected version of Omicron, is not a cause for alarm, scientists say. This spinoff from the original Omicron variant, called BA.2, has been found in at least 49 countries, including the United States. In some countries, like Denmark, BA.2 has already surpassed the original Omicron (BA.1) as the dominant variant. But most people do not find out what variant they are infected with, because that takes special technology called sequencing that takes place in certain labs. Right now, the original Omicron BA.1 still accounts for over 99% of new infections in the US, so if you are diagnosed with Covid-19, chances are, that’s what you have.
Because the new sub variant doesn’t cause a certain signature on lab tests called an s-gene target failure, it can look like other coronavirus variants on a first screen. That has some calling it “the stealth variant.”
Preliminary studies from the United Kingdom also show that people vaccinated and boosted are as well-protected against BA.2 as BA.1. That’s very important, because it means that those vaccinated and boosted are unlikely to become severely ill if infected with this new version of Omicron.
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Given how quickly it has spread and even displaced the very contagious original Omicron variant, known as BA.1, in some places, this new subvariant BA.2 appears to have an even higher rate of growth. There’s no evidence that it causes more severe disease than the original Omicron, which has been associated with milder illness than previous variants like Delta.
Pfizer and Moderna have announced that they are both testing vaccines against Omicron. Since both BA.1 and BA.2 are subvariants under Omicron, it’s expected that the vaccine would probably be effective against both.
However, we will not know until the clinical trials are complete just how effective the new Omicron-specific booster is, compared to the vaccine and booster that we have already been using. No one should wait for an Omicron-specific booster if they are already eligible to be boosted. If you are five months out from two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, or two months out from the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you should get a booster now.
