The percentage of people to have received a booster dose will also already be higher in older age groups and those with underlying health conditions due to prioritisation of the rollout so far. You have accepted additional cookies. The Delta variant, for example, comprises 200 different sub-variants. Even if a smaller proportion of these individuals require hospitalisation, these are still large numbers of people requiring hospital care and pressures on the NHS will increase. Experts say BA.2 symptoms don't seem to be all that distinct from original Omicron (BA.1) or the immediately preceding Delta variant. Studies have also shown that Omicron infects and multiplies in the upper airways 70 times faster than the previous Delta variant. Hospital cases are also rising, but vaccines are still helping to stop many severe. Earlier COVID-19 variants affected the lung tissue more and had a higher likelihood of causing pneumonia and other severe outcomes. A further 16 cases have been identified in Scotland, bringing the total in Scotland to 29. Case rates remain high throughout the UK and we must remain vigilant and take up vaccinations. By the summer of 2022, the BA.5 variant was the most dominant strain in the US. However, vaccinated people are still less likely to get infected than unvaccinated individuals, and they are also less likely to pass it on. Please take up this offer as soon as you are eligible to protect yourself, your families and your communities. UKHSA will continue to monitor the situation closely as a matter of routine, as we do all data relating to SARS-CoV-2 variants both in the UK and internationally. India is another country where BA.2 is rapidly replacing the Delta and Omicron BA.1 variant, according to molecular biologist Bijaya Dhakal. Thats why its critical that anyone with COVID-19 symptoms isolates and gets a PCR test immediately.. The first genomes of this variant were uploaded to the international GISAID database on 22 November. Analysis shows that protection against symptomatic disease 2 to 4 weeks after a booster dose ranges from around 65% to 75%, dropping to 55% to 65% at 5 to 9 weeks and 45% to 50% 10 weeks or more following the booster dose. Thanks to very high levels of vaccine coverage we already have a robust wall of defence against COVID-19 as new variants emerge. Thats why its so important that everybody, everywhere, takes simple steps to protect themselves from infection. The most commonly-reported symptoms with the original Omicron variant were cough, fatigue, headache, congestion, and runny nose. This edition includes an update on the current circulating lineages, including several cases of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 which have been detected in the UK. Whilst there are insufficient data to quantify either vaccine effectiveness or risk of reinfection in the UK exactly, the observed growth, case distribution and early analyses in both South Africa and the UK are consistent with some loss of immune protection against infection. Omicron BA.2 Variant Severity Omicron soon began branching off into a number of subvariants: BA.2 took off in the spring, and BA.5 came to dominate towards the end of the summer. In a subgroup analysis of 4,800 people who were triple-vaccinated and infected with an omicron variant, the authors found that people with BA.2 were 64 percent more likely than BA.1-infected . As the coronavirus continues to evolve, a new highly contagious Omicron variant is appearing in India and other nations, including the United States, experts say.. The B.1.1.529variant includes a large number of spike protein mutations as well as mutations in other parts of the viral genome. Getty Images BA.2 was. The symptoms of omicron BA.2.75 are mostly flu-like and may last more than 4-5 days. In the most recent week of data (specimen dates from 30 November 2021 reported as of 6 December), the number of cases with SGTF has increased to 705. In a lot of ways, it's a bad cold, a lot of respiratory symptoms, stuffy nose, coughing, body aches and fatigue," said Dr. Dennis Cunningham, the system medical director of infection control and. UKHSAis carrying out targeted testing at locations where the positive cases were likely to be infectious. UKHSA Chief Executive, Jenny Harries said: I want to thank everyone who has been working globally and locally to help us act incredibly quickly in response to the Omicron variant. None of these cases are known to have been hospitalised or died. Data on this wont be available for several weeks. According to Denmark's Statens Serum Institut (SSI), BA.2 infections rose to account for about half of the country's reported Covid cases in January. UKHSA Chief Medical Advisor, Dr Susan Hopkins said: It is increasingly evident that Omicron is highly infectious and there is emerging laboratory and early clinical evidence to suggest that both vaccine-acquired and naturally acquired immunity against infection is reduced for this variant. Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter', Why half of India's urban women stay at home. Overall numbers of ICU admissions have decreased over time, but where data was available admissions with Omicron have increased from 9% to more than 50% in the most recent week. What are the most common symptoms of Omicron BA.2? Whilst Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 are in the early stages of growth in the UK, analysis of the available data suggests that they are likely to have a growth advantage over the currently-dominant Omicron BA.2 variant. UKHSA encourage everyone to continue to follow the most up-to date guidance. Headache. Scientists in the UK and abroad are closely monitoring BA.2, a sub-variant of Omicron. Vaccination is critical to help us bolster our defences against becoming severely ill from this new variant please get your first, second, third or booster jab without delay. Infection rate corrected to one million infections a day. Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said: Todays new data shows how important booster jabs are to protect us against this variant. UKHSA will continue to designate new variants, and these will receive a variant number (in the format V-date-number). UKHSAwill continue to carry out laboratory and epidemiological investigations to better understand the characteristics of this variant. The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) said the BA.2 sub-lineage was already prevalent in samples it received at the end of January. This new UKHSA data on Omicron is promising while 2 doses of the vaccine arent enough, we know boosters offer significant protection against the variant and early evidence suggests this strain may be less severe than Delta. People infected with Omicron are also less likely to experience fever or loss of taste and smell. This is more promising data which reinforces just how important vaccines are. We continue to urge everyone who is eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine and booster. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. We have now identified cases in the East Midlands, East of England, London, South East and North West. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) can confirm that 10 people have been hospitalised with the Omicron variant in England; the individuals were diagnosed on or before admission. We should all continue to test regularly with LFDs and take a PCR test if symptoms develop. There will be no other categorisation of variants, including no variant under investigation (VUI) category. At the moment there is much that is not yet clear. Dr Meera Chand, Director of Clinical and Emerging Infections at UKHSA, said: The reclassification of these variants as variants of concern reflects emerging evidence on the growth of BA.4 and BA.5 internationally and in the UK. UKHSA is undertaking further detailed studies. Other countries that have uploaded more than 100 samples are India (530), Sweden (181), and Singapore (127). The new strain has several key mutations, with the most important of those occurring in the spike protein that studs the outside of the virus. Since the middle of February, this growth rate has settled at approximately 75% higher than other circulating Omicron lineages in England. We have also learnt that BA.2 has a slightly higher secondary attack rate than BA.1 in households. Updated analysisshows theadditional incremental benefit from each vaccine exposureincluding for boosters, even in those who have had prior infection. It is important that everyone ensures that they are up to date with vaccinations offered as they remain our best form of defence against severe illness. Over 40% of hospital admissions were in London. UKHSA has also released a variant risk assessment for Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, summarising the emerging epidemiology and laboratory evidence. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has identified 75 further cases of COVID-19 with mutations consistent with B.1.1.529 in England, in addition to the previous 29 confirmed cases of the SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.1.529. Both are variants in the Omicron family. As is routine for any new variants under investigation, UKHSAis carrying out laboratory and epidemiological investigations to better understand the properties of this variant. Vaccination is critical to help us bolster our defences against this new variant please get your first, second, third or booster jab without delay. Wear a mask in crowded spaces and, when meeting people indoors, open windows and doors to ventilate the room. Data for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is not included in the UKHSA Technical Briefing. The v Omicron BA.2 lacks the genetic deletion on the spike protein which produces S-gene target failure (SGTF) in some polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which has been used as a proxy for Omicron cases previously. This is very encouraging. This analysis is preliminary and highly uncertain because of the small numbers of Omicron cases currently in hospital, inability to effectively measure all previous infections and the limited spread of Omicron into older age groups. A booster dose for everyone over 18 years is now recommended and will be available at a minimum of 3 months from your last primary course jab. As is routine for any new variants under investigation,UKHSAis carrying out laboratory and epidemiological investigations to better understand the characteristics of this variant. Anewrisk assessment for OmicronVOC-21NOV-01 (B.1.1.529)has also been published and is available here. The best way that you can protect yourself is to come forward for your first 2 doses of vaccine, or your booster jab and do everything you can to stop onward transmission of the infection. The public health advice is the same for all current variants. According to the ZOE study - conducted across Omicron and Delta waves for comparison - there are five key symptoms of the Omicron variant. Please take up this offer as soon as you are eligible to protect yourself, your families and your communities. UKHSA is acting to get scientific information available as quickly as possible in order to inform the right balance of interventions to prevent transmission and protect lives. It was designated a variant of concern (VOC) on Saturday 27 November. Although hospitalisations and deaths remain low, cases are still high in some areas and some age groups so its important that we continue to act cautiously as restrictions are lifted. So, like the original omicron strain (BA.1), the primary symptoms of a mild BA.2 infection are a cough, fever, fatigue and possible loss of taste or smell. Dr Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Adviser at UKHSA, said: Hospitalisations always lag a few weeks behind infections, therefore it isnt surprising that we have started to see people being admitted to hospital with the Omicron variant. This designation means that data relating to BA.2.75 will now be reported separately from other BA.2 cases. There is currently insufficient evidence to draw conclusions about growth advantage or other properties of this variant. BA2 Variant is overtaking Delta and Omicron Cases at rapid speed. However, a small change may be enough to cause a difference in the virus properties in some circumstances. These are potentially biologically significant mutations which may change the behaviour of the virus with regards to immune escape, transmissibility or susceptibility to treatments, but this has not been proven. Thanks to the expertise of scientists at UKHSA and partner organisations, were able to respond quickly to new variations of the virus. Data continues to show COVID-19 poses a very low health risk to children and infants. Overall, data shows significant reductions in neutralisation against several of the newly emergent variants (BA.2.75.2, BA.2.3.20 and BJ.1), compared to BA.2, BA.4 and the dominant BA.5. AstraZeneca was the main vaccine used early in the programme in care homes and among those in clinical risk groups. However, it should be noted both that this is early data and more research is required to confirm these findings. BA.2 has an increased growth rate compared to BA.1 in all regions of England where there are enough cases to assess it. So far, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether BA.2 causes more severe illness than Omicron BA.1, but data is limited and UKHSA continues to investigate. BA.2, also known as "stealth omicron," is considered a subvariant of omicron. Available data are limited at this early stage, but it remains likely that the cases identified so far are a result of a number of separate introductions into the country. Anyone who is contacted because of a link to a probable or possible Omicron case will be asked to take a PCR test, even if they have received a positive COVID-19PCRtestwithin the last 90 days. One individual diagnosed in hospital has sadly died. This matches a recent study led by Oxford University and the Office for National Statistics (ONS), using data from the COVID-19 Infection Survey produced by the latter. UKHSAis acting to get scientific information available as quickly as possible in order to inform the right balance of interventions to prevent transmission and protect lives. ; The incubation time (time to onset of symptoms) is a bit shorter: 3 days. We constantly assess the genetic diversity within the known variants of concern (VOCs) to inform our ongoing public health response to the pandemic. But the latest data suggests this extra protection starts to wane more rapidly, being about 15 to 25% lower from 10 weeks after the booster dose. Of those patients admitted to hospital,17had received a booster vaccine, 74 people had 2 doses and 27 people were not vaccinated. UKHSAs latest analysis suggests that Omicron BA.5 is growing 35.1% faster than Omicron BA.2, while Omicron BA.4 is growing approximately 19.1% faster. As with other kinds of variant, most will die off relatively quickly. BA.2 Omicron Subvariant Can Damage Your Lungs, Cause More Severe Disease Than You Can Expect: Study BA.2 Omicron Subvariant Can Damage Your Lungs, Cause More Severe Disease Than You Can. Our data shows that LFD tests are similarly able to detect COVID-19 in individuals who have been exposed to Omicron as in those exposed to previous variants. COVID-19 has not gone away, so it is also vitally important that people continue to follow the guidance. A runny nose, gastrointestinal issues, headache and a skin rash are other common signs and symptoms. If you have any symptoms of a respiratory infection, and a high temperature or feel unwell, try to stay at home or away from others especially those who are elderly or vulnerable. UKHSAreleases weekly updates on the number of confirmed new cases of variants of concern and variants under investigation identified in the UK. However, any stay in hospital for a child is too long if youre a parent and its important we all take precautions to avoid the spread of infection. In addition, UKHSA has published data which shows the detection of cases exhibiting S-gene target failure (SGTF) in recent weeks across the country. A separate UK study also found higher transmissibility for BA.2 compared to BA.1. BA.2 variant symptoms: Spokane Regional Health District Health Officer Francisco Velazquez told KREM 2 News that the BA.2 variant of the omicron variant has some unique symptoms, too. The individuals who have tested positive and their contacts have been asked to self-isolate. You will not always know whether someone you come into contact with is at higher risk of becoming seriously ill from respiratory infections, including COVID-19. But it is worth noting that Denmark has seen similar trends in terms of hospital admissions and intensive care as the UK has, suggesting BA.2 does not mark a sea-change in severity. Cases have been confirmed through whole genome sequencing in all 9 regions of England. Continue to exercise caution. Spector shared a list of symptom prevalence from people who had tested positive for COVID, most of whom were estimated to have caught BA.2, he said. There are insufficient severe cases of Omicronas yetto analyse vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation, but this is more likely to be sustained, particularly after a booster. As of 17 May, 115 cases of BA.4 and 80 cases of BA.5 have been confirmed in England and the latest UKHSA variant technical briefing has been published today. Trends in SGTF over and time are however affected by the coverage of laboratories contributing to this surveillance data. This will include analysing live samples of the new variant in our laboratories to investigate properties including its response to current vaccines. While growth rates can be overestimated in early analyses of a new variant, the apparent growth advantage is currently substantial. Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at UKHSA, said: These early estimates should be treated with caution but they indicate that a few months after the second jab, there is a greater risk of catching the Omicron variant compared to Delta strain. What is the stealth omicron, or BA.2, variant? And even if it does become the dominant version of Omicron, it may not actually alter the trajectory of the pandemic in countries that have seen a big wave of BA.1. It is very likely that we will find more cases over the coming days as we are seeing in other countries globally and as we increase case detection through focused contact tracing. We use some essential cookies to make this website work. Six cases of the SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.1.529 have also been identified in Scotland, with 4 cases in the Lanarkshire area and 2 in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area. Dont worry we wont send you spam or share your email address with anyone. In some countries, BA.2 accounts for more than half of sequenced Omicron cases, it adds. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has announced the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.1.529 as a variant under investigation (VUI). This new mutation dubbed BA.2.75 is concerning scientists because it appears to spread fast, bypassing the protection offered by COVID-19 vaccines and immunity from previous infection, the Associated Press reported Monday. This paper can be found as a pre-print, and the data is referred to in the latest vaccine surveillance report. Please wear face coverings in line with government guidance, let in fresh air when mixing indoors and wash your hands regularly. Omicron BA.2.75, the variant derived from the BA.2 lineage which was identified internationally earlier this month, has now been categorised as a separate variant and given the. Vaccine effectiveness (VE) against Omicron has again been updated in this weeks briefing. In the age group of 20-50 years, significant severity is not expected. UKHSA continues to examine all available data relating to SARS-CoV-2 variants in the UK and abroad. It is projected that if current trends continue unchanged, the UK will exceed one million infections a day by the end of this month. The individuals and their households have been told to self-isolate. Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, said: We are learning to live with this virus and thanks to our world-leading surveillance system we can rapidly detect and carefully monitor any genetic changes to COVID-19. Here is what we know about it. There are indications of a small rise in children admitted to hospital, but these early signals need further investigations before we can draw any conclusions about whether Omicron causes more severe illness in children. Under the new system, the variant of concern (VOC) label will be assigned to variants which are currently emerging or circulating, and which the following characteristics can be confirmed or predicted: 1. The five key Omicron symptoms. It is one for the scientists to watch, rather than for the public to be alarmed about at this stage. Vaccination is critical to help us bolster our defences against this new variant please get your first, second, third or booster jab without delay. The analysis included very small numbers of cases as only a few people in the UK currently have this variant, meaning this data should be interpreted with caution until more cases have been studied. SGTF is not a 100% accurate test for Omicron and results are regularly evaluated against sequencing to ensure they are interpreted correctly. Well send you a link to a feedback form. As of 18 July 2022, there were 24 cases of BA.2.75 in the UK. The total number of confirmed cases in England is now 104. Yet fears of another Omicron wave in the United States may be. Many people who have Omicron say it feels like a common cold, and here are the 8 early warning signs you need to look out for. A preliminary assessment by UKHSA did not find a difference in vaccine effectiveness, although it said there was no data yet available on severity. Consider wearing a face covering when in crowded places. No cases have been identified in the UK. As of 30 November 2021, there are 22 confirmed cases of Omicron (B.1.1.529), identified through sequencing or genotyping in England. But at that point the sub-variant still appeared to account for less than one in 20 cases. The guidance on vaccination is changing to help all of us bolster our defences in the face of this new variant. It appears to have a growth advantage compared to the version of Omicron, BA.1, that has swept the globe. It is still too early to determine next steps, so please stay cautious this Christmas and get your booster as soon as possible to protect yourself and your loved ones. "We must remain vigilant and take up vaccinations. However, it remains too early to draw any definitive conclusions on hospital severity, and the increased transmissibility of Omicron and the rising cases in the over 60s population in England means it remains highly likely that there will be significant pressure on the NHS in coming weeks. Neither have been designated as variants of concern by UKHSA. The earliest of these has a specimen date of 19 January 2022. Studies have already shown that this virus travels to different parts of the body, therefore gut-related issues are. The individuals who have tested positive and their contacts are all isolating. Follow the latest self-isolation rules if you develop symptoms wear a mask where required to do so, take regular LFD tests and observe good hand hygiene. Stay at home if you have any respiratory symptoms or a fever and limit contact with others until you are feeling better, particularly if they are likely to be at greater risk if they contract COVID-19. This data shows that protection against severe illness from COVID-19 remains at over 90% in those aged 65 and over up to 14 weeks after a booster dose. And in England, more than 1,000 confirmed cases of BA.2 have been identified, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Working from home where possible, consistently wearing masks in crowded or enclosed spaces, washing your hands regularly and isolating and getting tested if you feel unwell are also vitally important in reducing the impact of COVID-19 this winter. 34 Subsequent studies that were performed in periods when a mix of BA.1, BA.2, BA.4, and BA.5 viruses circulated have reported low effectiveness of a second booster against . More evidence is needed to know whether this is due to changes in the virus behaviour or to epidemiological conditions. A detrimental change in biological properties (changes in transmissibility, severity or immune evasion) compared to the current dominant variant. If the growth rate and doubling time continue at the rate we have seen in the last 2 weeks, we expect to see at least 50% of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases to be caused by Omicron variant in the next 2 to 4 weeks. Work from home if you are able to, wear a mask indoors around other people, and ventilate indoor spaces well.