New Omicron BA.4, BA.5 sublineages may evade vaccines, natural immunity. What experts say

New omicron sublineages, discovered by South African scientists this month, are likely able to evade vaccines and natural immunity from prior infections, the head of gene sequencing units that produced a study on the strains said, according to Bloomberg report.

It is important to note that the BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages appear to be more infectious than the earlier BA.2 lineage, which itself was more infectious than the original omicron variant, Tulio de Oliveira, the head of the institutes, said.

Omicron sublineages  mutated to evade immunity

• As almost all South Africans either having been vaccinated against the coronavirus or having had a prior infection the current surge in cases means that the strains are more likely to be capable of evading the body’s defenses rather than simply being more transmissible, de Oliveira said.
• There are “mutations in the lineages that allow the virus to evade immunity,” he said in a response to queries. “We expect that it can cause reinfections and it can break through some vaccines, because that’s the only way something can grow in South Africa where we estimate that more than 90% of the population has a level of immune protection.”
• South Africa is seen as a key harbinger of how the omicron variant and its sublineages are likely to play out in the rest of the world. South African and Botswanan scientists discovered omicron in November and South Africa was the first country to experience a major surge of infections as a result of the variant.
• The new sublineages account for about 70% of new coronavirus cases in South Africa, de Oliveira said in a series of Twitter postings. 
• “Our main scenario for Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 is that it increases infections but that does not translate into large hospitalizations and deaths,” he said.
• So far, the sublineages have been detected in seven of South Africa’s nine provinces and 20 countries worldwide. 

(With inputs from agencies)