The variant Omicron 5 is taking over. Although vaccines are able to make Covid more vulnerable, the new mutation is not to be taken lightly. In fact, it is not new that the strain, in addition to being contagious, can evade the immunity accumulated by people, both from vaccination and from a previous infection. The reason? According to research published in Nature this would be attributable to the changes in spike proteins of the virus. Current Covid vaccines and boosters are able to cope with the original strain and less its mutations.
But that’s not all, because as explained to Cnn by Dr. Wesley Long“we have seen a few cases of reinfection“with the arrival of BA.4 and Ba.5. And this also in some people” who had a BA.2 variant in recent months. “Furthermore, another research, still pending review, has shown that people who had been reinfected had a higher risk of hospitalization and death, and they were also more likely to develop health problems.
For this, it is the appeal of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), vaccines arriving in the fall “must target BA.4 and BA.5”. What is heartening is that Omicron’s fifth mutation is not causing a more severe form of infection. The same symptoms have not changed from the original strain isolated in Wuhan: we speak of fever, headache, weakness, cough and cold. While heart and lung problems are in sharp decline.
