The corona virus mutates many times, often it becomes more contagious. How dangerous are the new subtypes of omicron? Experts provide the first answers.
Update from Friday, February 11th, 2022, 4:06 p.m.: According to initial findings, the BA.2 variant of Omikron, which can be transmitted even more quickly, is spreading further in Germany according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) – albeit initially at a low level. For the week up to January 30, the RKI shows a share of 8.1 percent in its weekly report from Thursday evening – compared to around five percent a week earlier. But does the course of the disease differ between the subtypes?
“In terms of clinical characteristics, there is currently no evidence that BA.2 infections differ from BA.1 infections,” the report states. In Germany, the omicron subtype BA.1 continues to dominate. In contrast, the BA.2 subtype is spreading rapidly in Denmark, among other places. According to experts, this could lead to an extension of the omicron wave in Germany.
Corona variant: omicron mutated unnoticed – “BA.2” spreads rapidly
First report from Tuesday, February 8th, 2022, 1:23 p.m.: Berlin – Germany is currently in a corona wave of omicron infections. The Robert Koch Institute already published a forecast at the end of 2021, according to which the peak is forecast for mid-February 2022. The daily updated number of cases has been showing such a development for weeks. New highs of new infections and incidences are reported again and again.
One aspect of why so many infections with Sars-CoV-2 are currently taking place in Germany is the comparatively higher infectiousness of the “BA.1” mutation. In recent months, this has replaced the Delta variant as the dominant mutation. Omikron acts with different subtypes. For example, the Omikron variant “BA.2” now also plays an important role in Germany.
Corona: Lauterbach warns – “We have to reckon with the emergence of further variants”
According to Karl Lauterbach, Federal Minister of Health, and Rolf Apweiler, Director at the European Bioinformatics Institute of the European Laboratory for Molecular Biology, the “BA.2” share in Germany is already 20 percent. The course of the disease Covid-19 hardly differs. Nevertheless, the risk of infection with “BA.2” is even higher than with “BA.1”.
Regardless of Omicron variants, both Lauterbach and Apweiler expect numerous other corona variants in the pandemic. “They act independently of each other,” emphasized the Minister of Health on Tuesday (February 8, 2022). The mutations of the conventional alpha variant adapt to the environment and possibly circumvent the immunity of the human organism.
New corona variants: Omikron as a cautionary tale
“Many of the variants that we will still have to deal with already exist,” explained Lauterbach in his statement. The virus mutates in secret: for example, the omicron variant remained undiscovered for a relatively long time. According to Lauterbach, it can be assumed that Omikron was able to adapt for more than a year without attracting attention. “We have to reckon with the emergence of further variants,” warned Apweiler. Omicron is just a warning example.
Vaccination is the key to fighting the multifaceted coronavirus. They are customizable. The first studies by manufacturers such as Biontech/Pfizer or Moderna are already underway on corona vaccines that have been adapted to Omikron.
Coronavirus
What is known so far about the omicron subtype “BA.2”.
In his remarks, Apweiler also named a factor that strongly favored the emergence of further corona mutants. According to the researcher, the more people around the world become infected without being vaccinated, the more variants will arise. (do)
