Omicron: GP explains ‘overwhelming’ science behind vaccines
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John Nkengasong, Director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the BA.2 sub=variant of Omicron is now the dominant variant in South Africa.
It has also been detected in at least six other African countries.
Mr Nkengasong said BA.2 had been identified in Mozambique, Senegal, Botswana, Mauritius, Kenya and Malawi.
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He added that the sub-variant was likely to be present elsewhere but may not have been detected yet due to weaker surveillance systems.
He told a media briefing: “We have data from South Africa that the BA.2 lineage has now become the predominant variant in South Africa.”
Also known as the “stealth” Omicron variant, BA.2 has already been identified in Denmark and the UK.
Data from the CDC updated Tuesday shows that BA.2 made up four percent of sequenced cases in the U.S. during the week of February 5.
In the previous two weeks, the variant made up 0.5 percent and 1.2 percent of cases in previous weeks.
Epidemiologist Eric Feigi-Ding wrote on Twitter: “Sub-variant surging.
“The BA.2 sublineage of Omicron has tripled in one week (in the US), dislodging the old Omicron from total dominance
“BA.2 now at 3.6 percent and climbing fast. Expect to be dominant by March.”
Mr Nkengasong stressed there is no need to panic over the mutation and that he did not think it was a “game-changer”.
When the stealth variant first emerged, some feared it could be a repeat of Omicron.
In the UK, cases peaked at around 180,000 per day, but then rapid plummeting of cases rates afterwards ended up stalling out at around 90,000 per day, as the new lineage managed to rip-through the remaining Covid-free population.
While it is believed to be the dominant strain in the UK, BA.2 fortunately did not cause Covid cases to start rising once again to the same extent as BA.1 did.
Some experts are still issuing warnings about the strain as well.
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