What is Omicron variant BA.2?

New Omicron variant: A new Omicron variant, subtype BA.2, has been detected in more than 40 countries across the world including the US, the UK, India, Sweden, and Denmark, putting the scientists on alert. However, the exact impact of the genome mutations of the rapidly spreading variant is under investigation. 

What is the Omicron variant?

As already known, the first Omicron variant BA.1 is more contagious than previous coronavirus variants. Now a new variant of Omicron, sub-lineage BA.2 has emerged which shares around 30 mutations, along with some unique ones. 

In November 2021, when the Omicron variant was discovered in South Africa and Botswana, the scientists found three versions-- BA.1, BA.2 and BA.3 by the PANGO at the University of Edinburgh. 

The first variant rapidly spread across the world while the remaining two variants were weaker in comparison to the BA.1 variant of Omicron. Now the world is witnessing the spread of the second version, BA.2. 

Around 400 people have been infected with the said variant of Omicron in the first 10 days of January 2022 in the UK. The virus has already been detected in over 40 countries globally. 

According to the PANGO directory of coronavirus, Denmark is most affected with BA.2 variant, with around 79% cases detected so far. It is followed by Great Britain (6%), India (5%), Sweden (2%) and Singapore (2%). 

The PANGO directory is regularly updated by scientists from the universities of Oxford, Edinburgh and Cambridge, and the detection of the new Omicron variant purely depends on the ability of health systems to sequence PCR tests.

Also Read | Omicron Symptoms: What are the symptoms of the Omicron virus strain?

Is the new Omicron variant dangerous?

The rapid spread of the new Omicron variant BA.2 suggests that it could be more dangerous than the original variant, but the threat posed by it is still unknown. It has been classified as BA.2 as a variant under surveillance by the UK Health Security Agency. 

It is to be noted that it is the nature of the viruses to evolve and mutate. Thus, the world will continue to witness new variants of coronavirus as the pandemic goes on. Also, a greater spread of any virus variant signifies more mutations, thus making it a variant of concern. 

For subtype BA.2, the analysis is underway as there is insufficient data to determine its level of threat. 

Will the current vaccines work against the new Omicron variant?

The emergence of new variants of coronavirus underlines the importance of vaccination. Although the severity of the BA.2 strain of Omicron is comparable to classic variant Omicron cases, minimal differences in vaccine effectiveness against both the Omicron variants are expected. The vaccine efficacy of BA.2 is also the same as other sub-variants.

Will there be an Omicron-delta recombination?

With the emergence of the new Omicron variant, scientists are concerned with possible Omicron-delta recombination that may lead to a potentially dangerous virus. The recombination may have the immune advantage of the Omicron variant and the rest of the genome of the delta virus. However, the discovery of the deltacron variant has not been widely accepted. 

As the spike protein in the Omicron variant has undergone numerous mutations, it can easily evade the immune defenses of the human body. 

Also Read | What is Delmicron and how is it different from Omicron?