European Center for Disease Prevention and Control

A random Twitter user named the new BA2.75 variant of Omicron the Centaurus variant. The name seems to be sticking since all the news outlets have adopted it. BA2.75 was first detected in India in early May 2022. BA.2.75 has also since been detected in about 10 other countries, including the UK, US, Australia, Germany, Canada, and now the San Francisco Bay area in the United States. Centaurus will likely out compete BA5 in the coming weeks.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) designated it a “variant under monitoring” on 7 July, meaning there is some indication that it could be more transmissible or associated with more severe disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) is also closely monitoring the new variant, although its chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, said there were not yet enough samples to assess its severity.

Last year Delta seemed to be the worst case scenario, but Omicron which came seemingly out of nowhere was a major curve ball. Since the new variants of the BA lineage of COVID are getting better at evading immune protection form past infection and vaccines, it is becoming clear that the virus can not be treated like the common flu. It will be a problem for generations.

The pandemic has never followed a simple linear path. New variants pinball around as people ignore the virus, and continually change the game.

In Early May 2022, The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) designated the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants as variants of concern (VOC) and said they could fuel increases in infections in the region in the weeks and months ahead.

At least 24 countries outside of South Africa have now reported the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. In US developments, key outbreak markers continue to rise, especially in the Northeast and Midwest. New daily cases are now over 100,000 and that is of course an under count. If you just go by your social media contacts who have been infected it seems the virus is everywhere.

With 12% to 13% growth advantage over BA.2, the ECDC estimated that BA.5 will become dominant. The growth advantage is probably due to immune escape from earlier infection, including from the original Omicron variant, and vaccination. Vaccine protection against Omicron infection has been shown to wane over time, though it still protected against hospitalization and death. Countries should have plans in place for the rapid deployment of booster doses for individuals who are 60 years and older to combat this immune escape.