The Israeli newspaper “Jerusalem Post” said that the sub-strain of Omicron “BA.2” has become the strain spread in many countries, including Denmark, the United Kingdom, India and South Africa.
According to a report by the British “Financial Times” newspaper, issued on February 3, the sub-strain contains up to 27 mutations not present in the original Omicron “BA.1” mutant.
The World Health Organization is currently investigating this strain as ‘of concern’, as are all Omicron subspecies.
In this regard, Dorit Nitzan, Director of Regional Emergencies at the World Health Organization, stated that “the expected path is that BA.2 will become the new dominant strain in the world, where once it crosses a certain threshold it will become dominant, as we have observed in Denmark and the United Kingdom.”
However, Nitzan said, “there does not appear to be a risk of reinfection for those infected with the original BA.1 omicron mutant.”
In terms of the differences between BA.1 and BA.2, Nitzan explained that “the most prominent difference now is the transmissibility of the sub-strain, as it is transmitted from person to person faster.”
