So what variants will follow BA 5? Most folks seem to be of the mindset that things can never get worst than the last horrific wave of COVID-19. We are now in the midst of the BA 5 wave and more people around me are infected than at any time in the pandemic. To date there have been 1,051,912 deaths due to COVID-19 in America with between 500 and 600 people dying every day. This has become the new normal that Americans seem content to shrug off while going unmasked and gathering in large superspreader groups.
A year ago Omicron was an unknown variant. It seemed to come out of nowhere, being a completely unique branch of the COVID-19 family tree. The BA variants are off shoots of Omicron. The hope was that each new variant would become less virulent and less infectious. The opposite has become the truth. BA 5 is the most infectious variant of COVID-19 to date and more importantly it is highly effective at evading people’s immunity from previous infection and vaccinations.
I am fully vaccinated and have both booster shots. That means nothing in terms of protection from infection. It does protect against serious infection and possible death from the virus. President Joe Biden is also fully vaccinated with both boosters. Despite this he has tested positive for COVID-19 on July 21, 2022. Biden tried to stay shielded by testing staff regularly before meetings and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said they still wear masks and stay 6 feet away from him during meetings. I however have seen plenty of public appearances in which he was unmasked including his meetings with Saudi princes. When asked where Biden may have been infected, the press secretary deflected saying that was not an important consideration. Like the past president, denying and deflecting seems to be the way the White House staff deal with the virus.
Some talking heads hope that future variants of COVID will become less infectious, but hope is not a way to conduct public health measures. I had hoped that when cases and hospitalizations rose then politicians would adjust and re-instate masking and social distancing requirements. Politicians lack the balls to roll with the punches and thus COVID is continuing to win the fight.
Rajendram Rajnarayanan, PhD, an assistant dean of research and associate professor at Arkansas State University, who has been tracking BA 2.75 which was first found in India and will likely peak in September 2022, in America “Right now, BA.2.75. seems to be the fastest of them all” he said. As of July 17, 2022 he had tracked just 14 cases in seven states: California, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. By now people should understand how exponential growth of a virus works, but then again ignorance is bliss for most.