What We Know About The New Omicron Subvariant BA.2 Spreading Around The World

[Warpy]

Some scientists have called BA.2 a "stealth" variant because, unlike the BA.1 variant, it lacks a particular genetic signature that distinguishes it from the Delta variant. While standard PCR tests are still able to detect the BA.2 variant, they might not be able to tell it apart from the Delta variant.
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It is worth noting that while BA.1 has dominated case numbers around the world, it causes less severe disease compared to the Delta variant. Recent studies from the UK and Denmark suggest that BA.2 may pose a similar risk of hospitalization as BA.1.
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A recent study suggested that people previously infected with the original BA.1 subvariant have robust protection against BA.2.

https://www.sciencealert.com/two-scientists-answer-all-your-questions-about-the-new-ba-2-variant

Those are the main takeaways. The article is readable but there is some alphabet soup in it. They are hoping the vax is as effective as it was against BA1, producing only mild illness in most people who got breakthrough cases. Vaccine studies have been done in Europe but are not yet peer reviewed.

So not to worry, it's not going to be 2020 all over again, so stop panic buying toilet paper. Please.

Oh, and there's also a BA3 variant, but nobody seems to be particularly worried about it, it doesn't seem to be spreading rapidly.

[multigraincracker]

1. Thank you.

Less worry now.

[SoCalDavidS]

2. Hopefully Like Omicron, This Primarily Kills The Unvaccinated Morons

I realize some vulnerable will succumb to this variant, and that is certainly tragic. But given the new normal we're facing, it's unavoidable. But if it mainly targets the unvaxxed masses, then I'm not going to lose sleep over that fact.

[Warpy]

3. Naw, greatly inconvenienced will do it, don't want any more dead, thanks.

I wouldn't sob into a hanky if they had what I had in March 2020. It sucked. I lost my sense of taste until sometime the next summer, didn't write down the day I smelled the first thing in weeks--a carrot I was chopping, of all things.

Yeah, I want them that inconvenienced. I want them to lose as much weight as I did because everything tastes like cardboard with plaster on top. I want them hacking and coughing and with a headache that doesn't respond to any drugs. Mostly, I want them inconvenienced enough that they catch a fucking clue and find something besides talk radio to listen to on those lonely long haul trips.