Latest on the list are the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which were identified recently in South Africa, one of the few countries that are still sequencing large numbers of COVID-19 tests. From Monday, Australians over 30 will be able to get a fourth vaccine dose, or second booster. "If your last boost was over six months ago, you might want to consider getting boosted again now with the current vaccine to keep your protection strong while were still getting through this pandemic," Montefiori said. The National Institute of Clinical Diseases in South Africa reports that BA.4 and BA.5 are Omicron viruses with a new combination of mutations.. If you know you had contact with an infected person, particularly in a higher-risk situation (such as an indoor space for a longer period with others who werent masked), testing is advised. Get the latest on how to schedule your COVID-19 vaccine, boosters and third doses, and more. Ten thousand Covid deaths and counting the road to Australias grim milestone, Not just a number: families of five Australian pandemic victims reflect on loss during Covid, Possible link between blood clots and Covid symptoms investigated, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. How do Omicron-targeted vaccines compare to the original ones? The Food and Drug Administration last week recommended modifying coming booster shots from Pfizer and Moderna to target BA.4 and BA.5 directly. Several studies, including one from UC Davis, indicate how effective masks can be in protecting yourself and others. Errors creep in that change the genetic blueprint, resulting in a new version of the virus. A South Australian government campaign poster on a bus shelter in Adelaide on 24 June urges people to get the third Covid vaccine. These estimates, and the reference to measles, have now been removed. Current vaccines still work well to prevent severe illness and death. BA.4 was first detected in January 2022 in South Africa. So far, BA.4 and BA.5 have been identified in several countries in addition to South Africa. It is likely that COVID-19, in whatever form, will be with us for some years to come the key question is, can we keep it under control as we try to get life back to normal? Experts are unsure how hard countries will be hit. Reported Covid case numbers have stayed relatively flat in the U.S. since May, but case numbers are on the rise globally. How quickly could we get new vaccines against variants? Theyre taking over, so clearly theyre more contagious than earlier variants of Omicron, said David Montefiori, a professor at the Human Vaccine Institute at Duke University Medical Centre. Both appear to be offshoots of BA.2, sharing many identical mutations. Although current vaccines based on the Wuhan strain will still provide some protection against serious illness and death against BA.4/5, they are unlikely to provide much, if any, protection against infection or symptomatic disease. These tests are pretty reliable, but they're not perfect. Number one: To detect these minor subvariants. Each new subvariant of Omicron has been better able to evade immunity from vaccination than its predecessor. Increasing cases have led to calls from some to reintroduce indoor mask mandates in an attempt to curb transmission. Early results are very promising, and likely to give much better protection against BA.4/5. Are they different in any way from previous strains? Aria Bendix is the breaking health reporter for NBC News Digital. Montefiori estimated that BA.4 and BA.5 are about three times less sensitive to neutralising antibodies from existing COVID-19 vaccines than the original version of the Omicron variant, BA.1. The more people who are infected, the more likely we are to see new variants. But for some reason, this did not happen, and the World Health Organization designated them as subvariants of Omicron. Is omicron BA.5 able to spread more easily than other COVID-19 strains? If this gives the virus a survival advantage, the new version will thrive. COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Australia. At this stage now, I think all these variants actually are roughly equally transmissible, so theres not a huge difference, he said. This gap is in place because many infected people still shed virus particles many weeks after recovery. Albanese says restrictions, if they need to be reviewed or reintroduced, will be examined by individual states and territories. Prof. Schaffner agreed that vaccines should protect against severe disease from the new variants: These are slightly different mutations of the spike protein are they so different that they cannot be responsive to our vaccines? So why arent we all wearing masks on public transport? If you've been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or are having symptoms, at-home tests can give you a good sense of whether or not you have an infection. People who have. A woman wearing a protective face mask stands outside the international terminal at Sydney airport. BA.4 and BA.5 appear to be able to infect people even if they've recently had other types of Omicron infection. Most people who test positive with any variant of COVID-19 typically experience some symptoms for a couple weeks. All rights reserved. It was the FDA, not an FDA advisory committee. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Omicron the list of SARS-CoV-2 variants continues to expand. Here's what scientists know about it so. Learn more about when you should get tested. Stay vigilant and get vaccinated if you havent already. Experts said the trends likely indicate that the virus is getting better at reinfecting people and evading vaccine protection. Wearing a mask in these situations helps protect vulnerable people you could unknowingly infect. People of the age of 30 and above as well, they are eligible. However, the majority of breakthrough infections are not causing severe illness, as compared to early in the pandemic when no one had immunity. A new version of COVID-19 is dominant in Australia. See the impacts of long COVID in the video player below. How effective are N95 masks vs. surgical masks vs. cloth masks? "There are only trade-offs.". BA.1 and BA.2 are pretty different, he said, so the cross-protection is not as great. Learn how to schedule your COVID-19 vaccine at UC Davis Health. How are COVID-19 deaths counted, and what does this mean. All Rights Reserved | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy, 2315 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95817, UC Davis Health is scheduling COVID-19 vaccines. Deakin University epidemiology chair Catherine Bennett said it was difficult to determine how transmissible the new Omicron variants were due to waning vaccine immunity and differing levels of prior infection. BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron are not thought to be any more lethal than other types of COVID. Balloux said no difference has been observed so far between BA.4 or BA.5 symptoms and those of previous subvariants. How long before I had symptoms was I possibly contagious with omicron? So were likely to see a rise in case numbers. "Its just some are slightly better at infecting people who have been vaccinated or infected by previous variants.". Its important to remember that you may be asymptomatic and not know you are infected but still able to spread COVID-19. Yes. On May 12, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reclassified BA.4 and BA.5 as variants of concern. Its recommended that those above the age of 50 do get their additional booster shot, he told reporters in Canberra on Saturday. COVID cases are soaring. There is abundant evidence that being vaccinated and getting all COVID-19 boosters helps protect you against severe disease. I aim myself to get an additional booster. Heres who is eligible. Express care services are open Monday Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday Sunday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. If your last boost was over six months ago, you might want to consider getting boosted again now with the current vaccine to keep your protection strong while were still getting through this pandemic, Montefiori said. This Snapshot Feature weighs up the existing evidence and questions yet to be answered. You can also reach out to our experts using UC Davis Healths convenient Telehealth Express Carefor urgent needs or extended-hours video visits. This followed a sharp rise in cases in Portugal, where the Portuguese National Institute of Health estimated on May 8 that BA.5 was responsible for around 37% of all positive cases. However, the federal government on Monday will move forward on the issue of access to vaccines. There was a massive, massive change between Delta and Omicron, and then there was, again, a fairly massive change between BA.1 and BA.2.. All Australian states and territories now have a Reff greater than 1, meaning that even with the current levels of immunity, we are seeing an exponential growth in case numbers. In the U.K., where BA.4 and BA.5 also account for the majority of new Covid cases, the most common Covid symptoms last week were runny nose, sore throat, headache, persistent cough and fatigue. Other research suggests that BA.4 and BA.5 are four times more resistant to antibodies from vaccines than BA.2, which was previously Australias most dominant strain. New research finds that with each repeat COVID infection even asymptomatic infection your risk for complications increases. By the end of June, new weekly cases were up by 32 per cent in Southeast Asia, 33 per cent in Europe and 47 per cent in the region comprising the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa and the Horn of Africa, the World Health Organisation said. And what can we expect in this next phase of the pandemic? The federal government hasnt received any advice on retightening COVID-19 mandates, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says. Rather, rises in cases and hospitalizations observed in some places more likely have to do with fading vaccine protection. However, they do differ in some of the mutations on the body of the virus. In addition, Balloux said, its hard to predict whether BA.5 will still be dominant later this year. The two subvariants also appear to evade protection from vaccines and previous infections more easily than most of their predecessors. We have learned that the [COVID-19-causing variants] are more mutable than we initially thought. The Omicrons are an extraordinarily contagious family. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID tracker, BA.5 is the predominant strain of COVID-19. (AFP Photo). 2022UC Regents. [] Do they have the capacity to produce more severe disease? It minimises the impact and people should follow that health advice. The message from health experts remains that everyone should be vaccinated against COVID-19. BA.5 was also detected in South Africa, in February 2022. In the US, officials say they are seeing rising numbers of infections caused by the two new subvariants. We dont know whats coming next., Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, He is not alone in his concern about the lack of sequencing. 2004-2022 Healthline Media UK Ltd, Brighton, UK, a Red Ventures Company. As with other COVID variants, the risk or serious illness remains highest for people who are elderly, or who have significant underlying health conditions. "I'm not saying it won't happen," he said. Given the uncertainty, theres no right or wrong, he said. Prof. Pagel expressed concern that lack of testing and sequencing may mean that variants are not detected early: [I]n England, for instance, we are only really doing PCR tests on hospital admissions [] [and] because admissions are skewed towards older populations, it will take longer for variants to show up if they spread first among children and young people as has been typical so far., These concerns were echoed by Prof. Schaffner, who said that [w]e require a coordinated international surveillance system, and critical to that is the sequencing of viruses. All of the variants, including omicron BA.5, cause similar COVID-19 symptoms: Even people who have partial immunity from a previous infection or vaccination can still have a breakthrough infection. But experts stressed that there may not be a dramatic difference in protection between additional boosts of the current vaccines and Omicron-specific shots. The effective reproduction number, or Reff tells us, on average, how many people an infected person will pass it on to, given the immunity in the population. The majority of breakthrough infections (people who have been vaccinated or previously had COVID) are not resulting in severe illness. BA.1 rapidly took over from Delta in Australia in early January this year, forming a massive wave of cases, peaking at more than 100,000 a day. This is possibly because of the high rates of immunity due to previous infections. There are some data that say these subvariants are even more contagious. 2 years into the pandemic, what have we learned? "We have waning immunity now in the people who got boosted half a year or more ago," Montefiori said. Prof. Christina Pagel, professor of operational research at University College London (UCL) and director of the UCL Clinical Operational Research Unit, told Medical News Today that [w]e are opening ourselves up to a serious new wave particularly in winter that we would not be able to spot in time.. A study found BA.4/5 is able to replicate more efficiently in the lungs than BA.2. Even if masking is not required, consider wearing a mask in public indoor spaces if you or people you live with are at high risk for severe disease. Learn more about which masks are best to protect against omicron BA.5. Reinfection is defined as a new infection at least 12 weeks after the first. And the issue, at least in [the U.S.], is can we persuade people to come forward yet again to be vaccinated? Are we going to come to some sort of fraught truce with this virus? The fourth dose: Why is it necessary and is it enough to stop the spike? You need to know whether to isolate so you can reduce your chances of infecting others, especially those who are more vulnerable to severe COVID-19. They were added to the World Health Organization's (WHO) monitoring list in March and have also been designated as variants of concern in Europe. A new version of omicron is dominant in the U.S. People tend to overestimate actually how much the virus has changed very recently, Balloux said. Montefiori said BA.4 and BA.5 also havent been found to cause more severe disease. We have waning immunity now in the people who got boosted half a year or more ago, Montefiori said. They also have many additional mutations likely to impact transmission. This is partly because immunity may be waning, but also because of the mutations the virus has undergone. Reported COVID-19 case numbers have been creeping higher in Australia, and case numbers are on the rise globally. "The virus is moving in a direction of escaping our vaccines more and more, but it has not found a way to escape the vaccines to a really significant degree," Montefiori said. Less than one-third of people surveyed reported fevers, according to data from the Zoe COVID-19 Symptom Study, which asks people to self-report their symptoms through smartphone apps. Unfortunately, omicron is so easily spread that even those who are fully vaccinated and boosted may get the illness. If you think you've been exposed to COVID-19, please see current testing information. Learn more about the difference between quarantine and isolation. Doctors say it is vital people get the recommended number of doses to gain maximum protection against existing and emerging variants. If you've been exposed to someone with the virus or have COVID-19 symptoms and are waiting for a test or your results, stay home and isolate from others. COVID infections in the United Kingdom (UK) are also showing early signs of a possible rise, driven by BA.4 and BA.5. Many countries have also lifted their COVID restrictions, meaning people are mixing more, which gives the virus more chances to spread. Its not like saying thats going to increase our death rate but it could as secondary infections become harder to manage, she said. MNT is the registered trade mark of Healthline Media. At-home test brands include BinaxNOW and iHealth. The ECDC reports that although there is no evidence yet of increased severity over previous variants, BA.4 and BA.5 do appear to be more transmissible. A similar subvariant, BA.4, makes up 17% more. Our high rates of vaccine-induced immunity might have a similar protective effect here. For that reason, he added, people eligible for second boosters those over 50 or the immunocompromised may not want to wait. People, if they are eligible, should do that. The latest Omicron subvariant: What we know so far about BA.2.12.1, What immune imprinting means for the future of COVID-19 vaccines. If you have a medical emergency, call 911 and notify them of your COVID-19 symptoms. They made everyone fair game for infection or reinfection but hospitalisations were unlikely to reach levels seen during the initial Omicron wave, she said. Watch this video for tips on using at-home tests, Learn what to do if you test positive for COVID-19, See how at-home rapid COVID tests can help families stay safe. New research finds that with each repeat COVID infection even asymptomatic infection your risk for complications increases. What do these omicron variants tell us about future COVID-19 strains? However, data from South Africa and the United Kingdom found that their BA.4/5 wave didnt see a major increase in severe disease and death. Few countries are sequencing large numbers of positive tests, despite the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) stating on May 4 that testing and sequencing remain absolutely critical., In many countries were essentially blind to how the virus is mutating. At the moment, if anything, Omicron seems to be on the milder side.. Scientists in this country first detected BA.4 on January 10, 2022, and it has since spread throughout South Africa, now making up 35% of positive tests. More than 70,000 new infections and 89 deaths were reported nationwide over the weekend, with Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5 now the dominant strains of the virus. File image. There is clearly vaccine fatigue out there., He added that [t]he more people we can vaccinate around the world [the more we can] reduce the chance of these rogue variants popping up., Prof. Jonathan Stoye, FRS, principal group leader, and international affairs ambassador at the Francis Crick Institute in London, U.K., agreed: It does not seem unreasonable to ask whether a greater emphasis should not be placed on attempting to provide and deliver a vaccine which can be administered to all the worlds unprotected people, particularly those in lower and middle-income countries.. At-home COVID tests, also known as rapid antigen tests, are useful because they provide quick results. See more in the video player above, Watch the latest News on Channel 7 or stream for free on 7plus >>. However, if you were in a situation where people were outside, masked and distanced, the risk of infection is much lower. Two new fast-spreading subvariants of Omicron are causing fresh surges of COVID around the world. The omicron subvariant of COVID-19, BA.5, has become one of the dominant strains of the virus in the U.S. Its always better to know than not [to] know.. In addition, Balloux said, its hard to predict whether BA.5 will still be dominant later this year. can experience health problems for four or more weeks after first being infected. There is much debate around the way in which the authorities are counting and recording COVID-19 deaths. A new version of COVID-19 is dominant in Australia. They are talked about together because mutations in their spike protein (the bit that latches on to human cells) are identical. By Elizabeth Daoud and Molly Magennis / World News. How can at-home tests help during a COVID-19 surge? Do I really need to know if I had COVID-19 if its not causing serious illness? We measure how contagious a disease is by the basic reproduction number (R0). "BA.1 and BA.2 are pretty different," he said, so the cross-protection "is not as great.". It is more easily spread than other strains because it evades immunity from past COVID-19 infection and vaccination. This third wave may not be as high as the second for the same reason. As of June 19, BA.5 accounted for 43% of omicron cases worldwide, while BA.4 accounted for 12%. Tests can be purchased without a prescription and are available at pharmacies and stores. If you have serious symptoms of illness, contact your primary care provider. Experts said the trends likely indicate that the virus is getting better at reinfecting people and evading vaccine protection. But we also get little, what we call drift variants. You can think of them as members of the same family [] theyre like cousins., Prof. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, TN. The first and second Omicron waves peaked in early January and early April. That might mean that people who got BA.2 infections have some protection now. Less than one-third of people surveyed reported fevers, according to data from theZoe COVID Symptom Study, which asks people to self-report their symptoms through smartphone apps. The coronavirus subvariant known as BA.5 accounted for nearly 54% of the country's Covid cases as of Saturday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the new subvariants do appear to be spreading more easily. Yes. The U.K. has not yet followed suit. Its just some are slightly better at infecting people who have been vaccinated or infected by previous variants.. Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional. And then, of course, the sequencing is utterly important to pick up that rare event when we would get another rogue strain that could evade the protection of our vaccines, he added. You will want to notify anyone you were recently in contact with so they can monitor their symptoms and get tested if needed. Francois Balloux, the director of the University College London Genetics Institute, said thats most likely another reason the subvariants have taken over. That's already happened in Portugal BA.5 is now dominant there. Likely, there are now tens of thousands of Australians into their second or third infections, and this number will only get bigger with BA.4/5. The mild days of Omicron are over: How new COVID strains could double the 10k death toll, A very big wave of long COVID is coming - and we arent prepared, expert warns, Australias deadliest wave of COVID-19 revealed, COVID-19 reinfections are here to stay. What are omicron BA.5 symptoms? However, BA.2 is even more transmissible than BA.1, and Australia saw a second wave of cases, this time caused by BA.2. Rather, rises in cases and hospitalisations observed in some places more likely have to do with fading vaccine protection. According to a report from the U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA), with data up to April 22, BA.4 was present in Austria, the U.K., the U.S., Denmark, Belgium, Israel, Germany, Italy, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Australia, Switzerland, and Botswana. Its important to know if you're infected with COVID-19 for three reasons: Most likely. Thats not quite the case with BA.4 and BA.5, he said, although he noted another major shift in the viruss evolution could still come. Most people who test positive with any variant of COVID-19 typically experience some symptoms for a couple weeks. Although the numbers recorded for both variants are currently low, the actual case numbers are likely to be much higher. UC Davis Health patients can use the MyUCDavisHealth symptom tracker to evaluate whether to seek help. Learn more from our experts about omicron BA.5 and how you can protect yourself. Although current vaccines are not a perfect fit, they are still the best line of defence. Montefiori said BA.4 and BA.5 also havent been found to cause more severe disease. These subvariants have now spread to several other countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. Are the COVID-19 vaccines effective in protecting against omicron BA.5? BA.4 and BA.5 were first identified in South Africa and may soon become the dominant strains in Europe and the United States (US), health experts say. It is likely that BA.4 and BA.5 will spread further, and that they will not be the last new variants. Does omicron BA.5 cause more severe illness than other strains of COVID-19? We asked experts about the lessons learned and the questions, BA.2.12.1, the descendant of the stealth Omicron subvariant, is quickly gaining ground in the United States.
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