As the world's attention is turned to Ukraine, the coronavirus continues to spread globally, including in Israel, raising fears of another infection wave caused by the BA.2 Omicron subvariant.
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The strain – sometimes called "stealth Omicron" – was identified in November last year and has since become more dominant worldwide. Cases have also been reported in Israel and the Health Ministry estimates they now make up 50%-60% of the national caseload.
Although experts say BA.2 does not cause severe illness and hospitalization, they warn it has a higher transmission rate than Omicron and can evade PCR tests, meaning tests will show if a person is infected, but will not be able to determine with which specific mutation. Nevertheless, the more BA.2 spreads, the more its ability to evade PCR tests decreases, as was the case with Omicron.
As for symptoms caused by the subvariant, US epidemiologist Dr. Francisco Velazquez said in an interview that along with the standard symptoms of Omicron – nasal congestion, headaches, fatigue, sneezing, coughing, sore throat, and fever – BA.2 also causes dizziness.
Experts also worry whether vaccines are efficient in protecting against BA.2 and to what extent. They estimate that similarly to its "big brother," it will be more evasive, but vaccines will offer protection in most cases nevertheless.
In Israel, officials are also closely monitoring a new COVID strain recently identified for the first time in the country and world – a combination of Omicron and BA.2.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry reported 6,775 new COVID cases on Friday morning. Altogether, 56,731 were screened in the past 24 hours, which puts the infection rate at 11.94%.
There are 42,825 active cases in the country with 751 patients hospitalized. Of those, 325 are in serious condition.
Thus far, 738,030 Israelis have been vaccinated with four doses, 4,470,068 with three, 6,125,313 with two, and 6,701,050 have received one jab.
Israel has reported 3,745,408 cases, including 10,417, since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020.
In related news, drugmaker Moderna asked the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday to authorize a fourth shot of its COVID-19 vaccine as a booster dose for all adults.
The request is broader than rival pharmaceutical company Pfizer's request earlier this week for the regulator to approve a booster shot for all seniors.
In a press release, the company said its request for approval for all adults was made "to provide flexibility" to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and medical providers to determine the "appropriate use" of a second booster dose of the mRNA vaccine, "including for those at higher risk of COVID-19 due to age or comorbidities."
U.S. officials have been laying the groundwork to deliver additional booster doses to shore up the vaccines' protection against serious disease and death from COVID-19. The White House has been sounding the alarm that it needs Congress to "urgently" approve more funding for the federal government to secure more doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, either for additional booster shots or variant-specific immunizations.
U.S. health officials currently recommend a primary series of two doses of the Moderna vaccine and a booster dose months later.
Moderna said its request for an additional dose was based on "recently published data generated in the United States and Israel following the emergence of Omicron."
On Tuesday, Pfizer and its partner BioNTech asked US regulators to authorize an additional booster dose of their COVID-19 vaccine for seniors, saying data from Israel suggests older adults would benefit.
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