Covid subvariant BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 ’dangerous’: Anthony Fauci’s stark warning

Top American physician-scientist and immunologist, Dr Anthony Fauci has sounded alarmed about the entry of two new subvariant of dealy Covid-19 virus. In an interview with CBS News, Fauci said that the two descendants of omicron’s BA.5 subvariant, called BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, both have dangerous “qualities or characteristics that could evade some of the interventions we have".

The US top physician said one should not declare victory from Covid-19 "too prematurely" and added, "And that’s the reason why we’ve got to keep our eye out on these emerging variants".

In just over a month since a new Covid variant known as BQ.1 was first named, that strain and a descendant called BQ.1.1 have grown up by 10% in the US, as per the data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fauci said the new sub-variant has a "troublesome" doubling time. "When you get variants like that, you look at what their rate of increase is as a relative proportion of the variants, and this has a pretty troublesome doubling time," he told CBS News.

Simultaneously, the US federal health authorities are gearing up for a widely-expected resurgence of coronavirus during winters. The BQ.1 variant of Covid-19 has already outpaced many rival strains in European nations from England to Germany, where the Covid wave has resurged.

Previously, the CDC bundled BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 with their shared parent BA.5. The two sub-variants make up an estimated 5.7% of infection in the US. The remainder of BA.5 which had dominated a wave of cases over the summer, has shrunk to 67.9% of circulating variants.

CDC spokesperson said BQ.1 and BQ.1.1. are the fast-growing subset of the Omicron variant in the US at present. It appears that the two sub-variants might overtake other Covid strains such as BA.4.6. which currently makes up 12.2% of infections.

In America, the New York and New Jersey area has the largest proportion of BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 infections. Around 20% of infections there are already from BQ.1 or BQ.1.1, the CDC estimates.

Further, Dr Fauci also echoed worries that the variant's mutations might evade medications like Evusheld, which is a key antibody drug used to help protect immunocompromised Americans from the virus.

"That's the reason why people are concerned about BQ.1.1, for the double reason of its doubling time and the fact that it seems to elude important monoclonal antibodies," said Fauci.

Earlier this month the US FDA also warned doctors that new Covid variants are on the rise and could threaten high-risk patients who had relied on Evusheld's protection.

Scientists have also been tracking BQ.1 over concerns that their mutations could fuel a Covid wave. Experts have cited the "sizable number of unique mutations" in variants like BQ.1 in speculating that it could evade immunity people have from prior infections or vaccination.

However, so far little is known about what impact these mutations might have in affecting the severity of the disease.

Fauci thinks updated Covid boosters from Moderna and Pfizer would be able to help curb a potential surge fueled by BQ.1.