The New York Times is reporting an increase in COVID cases in Asia and Europe. They attribute the increase in Europe to an even more contagious version of Omicron, known as BA.2.
Let’s get this straight. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus, Omicron (B.1.1.529) is a variant of the virus, and BA.2 is a version of the variant of the virus. Or to cite Wikipedia:
Researchers have established the existence of three sublineages of Omicron. The ‘standard’ sublineage is now referred to as BA.1 (or B.1.1.529.1), and the two other sublineages are known as BA.2 (or B.1.1.529.2) and BA.3 (or B.1.1.529.3). They share many mutations, but also significantly differ. In general, BA.1 and BA.2 share 32 mutations, but differ by 28. This makes them as different as some other major variants, and it has been suggested that BA.2 should receive its own name based on the Greek alphabet. BA.1 has itself been divided in two, the original BA.1 and BA.1.1, where the main difference is that the latter has a R346K mutation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SARS-CoV-2_Omicron_variant#Sublineages_and_BA.2_subvariant
Just tell me when I need to get another shot.
Stay healthy and safe.
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