COVID: Contagious Omicron Subvariant Has Health Experts Concerned For Unvaccinated
SAN CARLOS (KPIX) -- A new coronavirus variant that's even more transmissable than Omicron has health experts concerned for unvaccinated people.
This contagious Omicron subvariant known as BA.2, could cause surges in communities with low vaccination rates, especially in areas that were not hit hard by the Omicron surge.
"There are tens of millions of people who haven't been vaccinated, a proportion of those haven't been exposed to Omicron yet," said University of California San Francisco Prof. of Medicine Dr. Peter Chin-Hong.
BA.2, a subvariant of Omicron, is 30% more contagious, according to the World Health Organization. So much so that Dr. Chin-Hong said health measures may not protect people from contracting the virus.
"BA.2 is more transmissible so any strategy you used to keep yourself free from Omicron may not work for BA.2," he said. "I'm curious and definitely watching it."
The strain accounts for only 3.9% of new cases in the U.S. Yet health experts are keeping a close eye on it, as it rapidly spreads in other countries, including Denmark. It comes as California lifted its indoor mask mandate last week for those fully vaccinated.
Despite the decline in cases, the majority of shoppers at Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo County, were wearing masks indoors Monday night.
Both Dr. Chin-Hong and UCSF Prof. of Epidemiology Dr. George Rutherford believe BA.2 will have an impact on the decline in the U.S.
"It's going to, instead of having a steep drop off, we might have a little bit more of a tail," Dr. Rutherford said.
"Pretty much everybody already got infected and, if anything, it may mean just a slower return to baseline virus in the community," said Dr. Chin-Hong.
He said the Bay Area, however, saw so many infected with Omicron in recent months that those people won't get sick with BA.2. Both doctors also don't predict the strain will cause a surge in the Bay Area because of the high vaccination rate and natural immunity.
However, Dr. Chin-Hong said those who aren't vaccinated and managed to steer clear of Omicron should be concerned because of BA.2's high transmissibility. The doctor said communities with low vaccination rates and natural immunity have the potential to see a surge.
