Omicron 2 (BA.2) - What now?

Описание: The Omicron variation called "BA.2" is causing quite a stir. I mean we were just getting used to "original Omicron"... Some on the news, Twitter and other outlets are making this out to be an extreme new threat - Some are saying it's "more of the same" and some say it's a positive move in ending the pandemic. In this podcast, Dr. A will break down the Omicron family, their similarities and differences, and their most likely effects on herd immunity and ending the pandemic.
RECENT LINKS:
Last “COVID and Me” podcasts “Part-1”    • MY COVID EXPERIENCE  
& Part-2    • COVID & ME Part-2  
“Get and Stay Healthy” podcast:    • GET & STAY HEALTHY  
COVID and B vs T cell immunity    • COVID Post Infection T and B cell Immunity  
“You’ve got COVID, Now What?”    • YOU'VE GOT COVID... Now What?  
Vitamin D pre-exposure and severity data: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... Nutrients in COVID: https://dranow.com/nutrients-covid-19/
Omicron Variant – “New” Sub-variants?
Omicron is a variant – see diagrams below. BA.1 vs BA.2 vs BA.3 are “clades” (like triplets) of Omicron and not really new or separate “variants”.
“Clade” is a term used often in biology for a group of organisms that all originate from a common ancestor. Using phylogeny (evolutionary history of a group of organisms) changes in a set of descendant organisms can be tracked. In virology, a clade describes groups of similar viruses based on their genetic sequences, and changes in those viruses can also be tracked using phylogeny.
SARS-CoV-2 is itself a clade within the family coronaviridae and the genus betacoronavirus. Generally, the genetic variations of a virus are grouped into clades, a.k.a. subtypes, genotypes, or groups.
Report from the NZ Herald:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/covi...
*In the US but more common in Asia and Europe. In Denmark, it made up 45 per cent of all Covid-19 cases in mid-January, up from 20 per cent two weeks earlier.
More like the “old” Coronaviri in entry?
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.11...
One study and one report characterize BA.2 spread and severity:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
https://www.businessinsider.com/ba2-o...
There is no evidence that it is causing more severe disease.
WILL THIS BE MUCH WORSE AND KILL US ALL?
“BA2 is seriously bad news. It’s both faster transmission than BA2 and if it’s truly more severe and as evasive against prior immunity including BA1 old #Omicron immunity— then it’d be the worse of 4 worlds.” The hamster paper: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.11... (Reply): "Resistant to Omicron BA.1 induced immunity" significantly overstates the paper's actual claims. In humans: "Although BA.2 was 1.4-fold more resistant to the BA.1-infected sera than BA.1, there was no statistical difference (Fig. 2f; P=0.091 by Wilcoxon signed-rank test)."
Humans? “Clinical severity of Omicron sub-lineage BA.2 compared to BA.1 in South Africa” These data suggest that while BA.2 may have a competitive advantage over BA.1 in some settings, the clinical profile of illness remains similar.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.11...
CDC in the US?
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/w...
The median duration of symptoms was 11 days; the most commonly reported symptoms included nasal congestion, fatigue, cough, and sore throat. The median incubation period was 2–5 days (based on earliest and latest exposure). No hospitalizations or deaths were reported.
Danish human study:
"We conclude that Omicron BA.2 is inherently substantially more transmissible than BA.1, and that it also possesses immune-evasive properties that further reduce the protective effect of vaccination against infection," the study's researchers said. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.11...
Graphics from: NEXTSTRAIN.ORG and ACCESS HEALTH INTERNATIONAL
***Province of Alberta data: https://www.alberta.ca/stats/covid-19...