Omicron sub-variant has a transmission advantage: UKHSA | Coronavirus pandemic News

The UK Health Security Agency says early assessment finds no difference in the effectiveness of vaccines against symptomatic disease among Omicron subtypes.

The BA.2 subtype of the omicron coronavirus variant appears to have a significant growth advantage over the currently predominant type BA.1, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

The UKHSA said on Friday that the BA.2 growth rate had increased compared There were enough cases to compare with BA.1 in all parts of England, and “there is an apparent significant growth advantage today.”

“We now know that BA.2 has a higher growth rate than any other region in England,” said Dr Susan Hopkins, UKHSA’s Chief Medical Adviser.

The agency said there was no data on the severity of BA.2 compared to BA.1, but reiterated that a preliminary assessment had found no difference in the effectiveness of the symptomatic disease vaccine between the two subtypes of Omicron.

The rapid spread of BA.1 propelled the Omicron wave, and the daily infections pushed the UK to great acclaim in December, relocating the previously dominant Delta variant.

However, hospitalizations did not increase at the same rate due to the immunity of the population through vaccinations and previous infections, as well as the lower severity of Omicron.

The UKHSA said a separate analysis showed that from 24 November to 19 January, most admissions to COVID-19 intensive care had Delta infections, although the number of Omicron cases began to predominate.

Also, the rise in Omicron cases in care homes is not related to the increase in hospital admissions.

“Our findings suggest that the current wave of Omicron infections is unlikely to lead to a significant increase in serious illness in vaccine coverage populations and / or natural immunity in nursing homes,” the UKHSA said, noting that the findings are based on BA. BA.2 due to the limited number of cases in study 1.