The omicron subvariant BA.5 is beginning to lose its grip on the U.S., making room for other strains to compete for dominance.
"It is also picked up a few mutations we know will evade vaccine induced immunity so we’re keeping an eye on it to see how much of that immunity it will evade," Pekosz said. Although most of the emerging variants contain a mutation that may be able to evade vaccine-induced and natural immunity, health experts say theagainst the newest strains. The boosters combine the original COVID-19 vaccine with a reformulation that targets the BA.4 and BA.5 versions of the omicron variant.
"These are related to the BA.5 that is in the bivalent vaccine," Pekosz said."Much of the immune response that you'll get from the vaccine will continue to recognize these new BA.4 and BA.5 variants." For now, health experts don't foresee any of the new variants causing a surge akin to that of omicron in early 2022. But they urge Americans to get boosted to prevent severe disease and reduce transmission. about about 14.8 million Americans have gotten their updated booster.
"If people went out and got the vaccine, they'd be able to boost their protection against these variants and limit spread of these viruses before they evolve more mutations," Pekosz said. Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial input.