Covid-19 news: Omicron immune response protects against BA.2 variant

Data suggests that people who’ve had the BA.1 omicron variant are protected against BA.2, at least in the short term. A preliminary study of coronavirus infection rates suggests that people who have recently been infected by the BA.1 omicron variant are 95 per cent protected against infection with the fast-spreading BA.2 omicron variant. The omicron wave, which began in November, has primarily been driven by the BA.1 variant, but now another variant of omicron, BA.2, seems to be rising to dominance. BA.2 has 32 of the same mutations as BA.1 but it also has 28 that are different. Rapidly rising numbers of BA.2 infections suggest that this variant is even more transmissible than the BA.1 omicron variant. A key problem with the omicron variants is their ability to escape immunity, but data from around 20,000 people in Qatar suggests that people who have recently been infected with BA.1 are 95 per cent protected against catching BA.2 35 to 50 days after infection.