In Russia, an outbreak of a new mutation
The daily number of cases has exceeded 20,000. The new subtype is also “omicron”, but with a greater bias towards immunity. Is it contagious and is there a vaccine for it?
In Russia, the entry line for covid has changed. According to GISAID, all previous subtypes of the virus were almost squeezed out of the country by Omicron BA.5.
Due to the large number of mutations, the new line can evade any immunity, and its spread across Russia coincided with a sharp increase in the incidence.
The new strain crept in unnoticed. Back in May, Russia was calmly ill with “omicron” BA.2, the so-called “stealth strain” – the incidence. Now the situation has changed. Firstly, in the country for a month observed a multiple increase in the incidence – 3 months in early July against 23 thousand per day by the second week of August. Secondly, a coup is expected in the coronasphere of Russia – according to data The GISAID Global Database, where viruses from all over the world are contaminating genome sequencing results, probably began massive cases of BA.5 infection in the country in early summer.
By July, the share of the line in the sequence of laboratory laboratories exceeded 50%, and in the low week the figure reached 97% – that is, only 3% of analyzes in Russia today give a result “not BA.5”. A similar presidential situation is observed in the United States – the share of BA.5 is above 80% and an increased incidence, even Joe Biden got sick with covid over the summer. At the same time, mortality remains unchanged. About the reasons tells aired on PBS founding and director of the Scripps Research Institute Dr. Eric Topol:
Vaccines protect against BA.5 significantly less than against other variants. According to a study published earlier in NEJM, vaccinated and recovered titers of neutralizing antibodies to the new strain were 18-20 times lower than those to the original Wuhan virus. Modified vaccines should help the situation – over drugs that will teach the immune system to recognize even a mutated virus that Pfizer and Moderna are already working on. How allocated earlier in the US administration, Americans modified boosters could be changed as early as September. In Russia, such statistics are not yet considered, so the question arises – to be revaccinated now or to wait for the modified Sputnik? It should be understood that vaccines against serious diseases are still successfully preventing serious diseases, Nikolay Kryuchkov reminds the CEO and research company Clinical Excellence Group:
Nikolai Kryuchkov General Director of the contract research company Clinical Excellence Group
So far, there have been no official announcements about the development of Sputnik under BA.5 and other new Omicron lines. In January, the head of the Gamaleya Center Alexander Gintsburg spokethat the original “omicron” does not require vaccination, since it already shows a high degree of protection. Last year, the developer of the operational modification of “Sputnik” under the “delta” strain – as spoke Gunzburg, it was already “in the refrigerator”, but it did not come to an increase in production. Therefore, until new developments are announced, the choice before the Russians is quite simple: either revaccinate with Sputnik, or count on a chance against the backdrop of a 10-fold increase in the incidence.
At WHO today, the BA.5 sub-option of “omicron” balances with BA.4 and other counts. If the capture line at the global level can be recognized as a coronavirus. After that, BA.5 can take ownership.
And after the “omicron” in the Greek alphabet, the letter “pi” follows.