New COVID Variant, Worse Than Omicron And Delta Will Emerge In Next 2 Years, Warns UK Epidemiologist
As India slowly gets back to normalcy after fighting COVID-19 for over two years, England’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty has warned that the world will see the emergence of another new COVID variant, deadlier and worse than the current dominant Omicron variant in the next two years. Currently, two variants and one sub-variant are wrecking havoc worldwide, these are – Delta, Omicron BA.1, and Omicron BA.2 (or Stealth Omicron). The omicron variant, officially known as B.1.1.529, of SARS-CoV-2, has three main subvariants in its lineage: BA.1, BA.2, and BA.3. The earliest omicron subvariant to be detected, BA.1, was first reported in November 2021 in South Africa.
BA.2 is the latest subvariant of omicron, the dominant strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. While the origin of BA.2 is still unclear, it has quickly become the dominant strain in many countries, including India, Denmark, and South Africa. It is continuing to spread in Europe, Asia, and many parts of the world.
‘Virus Will Throw More Surprises’
Asserting that the virus which is evolving currently across the globe will become a part of the environment, Whitty said, “The upcoming strain (possibly within next 2 years) could cause worse problems than Omicron and this will directly change our balance of risk.”
Talking about the endemic stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, Whitty said that it is not right to call it endemic at the moment. “It is incorrect to assume the virus has reached a stable state around the globe, despite easing restrictions by many countries.”
“In the next two years, we could end up with a new variant that produces worse problems than we have got with the existing omicron variant.”
COVID Resurgence In UK, China, And US
This comes at a time when the UK and some other parts of Asia and Europe are experiencing a resurgence in daily COVID cases. Most of the surges are due to the highly virulent BA.2 Omicron variant or stealth variant. However, so far no severe symptoms have been noticed among the patients who are diagnosed with the BA.2 variant.
According to the studies, the BA.2 Omicron subvariant has eight unique mutations not found in BA.1 and lacks 13 mutations that BA.1 does have. BA.2 does, however, share around 30 mutations with BA.1. Because of its relative genetic similarity, it is considered a subvariant of omicron as opposed to a completely new variant.
(With inputs from Agencies)
