Omicron ba.4 and ba.5 have delta mutations, which could have made the subvariants extremely virulent, but due to vaccination and immunity from previous infections, the risk has certainly been reduced, explained epidemiologist Tulio de Oliveira, who first recognized it. new subtypes. “So far it has become clear that South Africa has entered the 5th wave of COVID-19, but it looks very different from the Omicron BA.1 surge,” he added, adding that the current situation in South Africa remains the same. countries can guide What will happen to the world when a new wave arrives?
Speaking on the current spike, the expert told The Wire, that infections are on the rise but the rate of hospitalizations and deaths are very low. Presently, 90% of the COVID beds and ICU are vacant. So the country is in a good position to pass through the 5th wave. The expert confirmed that the new wave is driven by BA.4 and BA.5.
Can Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 cause reinfection?
Regarding the merits of the new sub-lineages, he said that the chances of re-infection with BA.4 and BA.5 are very high if you do not vaccinate. But infected people who are also vaccinated (hybrid immunity), are well protected.
So, the fifth wave is happening because a large part of the population in South Africa is still illiterate and they are getting infected. Experts also pointed out that if you had delta since immunity, re-infection is possible in that case.
Since BA.4 and BA.5 have a delta mutation, is it more virulent?
The delta variant in both BA.4 and BA.5 has some mutation that may not only make the variant more transmissible than omicron, but also more virulent than delta. On this the expert said that if we were in the first phase of the epidemic then this could have happened. Since most of the contamination has just been vaccinated and is already immune to the previous version, the risk now is very low.
The highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19, first detected in southern Africa in November last year and rapidly spreading globally, is now the dominant variant accounting for almost all new cases. The latest WHO report showed that the sub-lineages “acquired some additional mutations that may affect their characteristics.”
The WHO has officially recorded more than 6.2 million COVID deaths worldwide since the start of the pandemic, but the actual toll is believed to be much higher. However, the number of newly reported cases and deaths is now declining.