For weeks now, it seems like COVID-19 has been receding from people’s charts and even minds, but a new pack of variants are battling to take over.
Infectious Disease Expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong said BQ.1 and and BQ.1.1 derived from BA.5 and are known to be immune-evasive.
They were detected across the globe a while ago, but only recently catched our attention.
“Like two weeks ago we hadn’t seen a lot of it in the U.S. and all of a sudden they comprise like 10 or 11% of all cases,” said Chin-Hong.
The latest numbers show BA.5 as the dominant strain, but in the last weeks, BQ.1 and and BQ.1.1, and other variants, are suddenly pushing BA.5 off the chart.
Chin-Hong said it has to do with our immunity.
“Because our boosters are targeting regular BA.4 and BA.5, it just means our maximum protection against just breakthrough infection, instead of being six months or more, might only be two or three months,” he said.
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Which means if you get boosted now, you'll have the max protection at least for the holidays.
These variants haven't been detected in the Bay Area yet, but Chin-Hong says it won’t be long until we see them.
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