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BA.4/BA.5 will soon be dominant in the US. Here’s what that means - Ars Technica
Jun 24, 2022 1 min, 36 secs

Omicron coronavirus subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are now accounting for an estimated 35 percent of US cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

When BA.4 and BA.5 were first detected in South Africa in April, it quickly became clear that the two can evade immune responses from vaccination and past infection, even infection from previous omicron variants.

The latest data found that people who had been vaccinated and boosted had 21-fold lower neutralizing antibody titers against BA.4 and BA.5 compared to levels against the original version of SARS-CoV-2.

And those neutralizing antibody levels were also 3.3-fold lower compared to levels against BA.1.

Likewise, in people who had previously been infected with BA.1 or BA.2 (most of whom had been vaccinated, too), neutralizing antibody levels against BA.4 and BA.5 were still nearly 3-fold lower than levels against BA.1.

But, as BA.4 and BA.5 approach dominance in the US—making them the fourth and fifth omicron subvariants to dominate cases this year alone after BA.1, BA.2, and BA.2.12.1—the question looms: What's next.

With BA.4 and BA.5 arising in South Africa weeks ago, we had the opportunity to see this next wave coming.

That means BA.4 and BA.5 could enjoy a longer reign than their predecessors in the absence of any up-and-coming usurpers.

On Wednesday, Moderna released preliminary top-line data that it will present to the FDA, showing that its combination (bivalent) vaccine targeting both the original version of SARS-CoV-2 and the original omicron variant can boost protection against BA.4 and BA.5.

Moderna says the bivalent booster, dubbed mRNA-1273.214, can increase neutralizing antibody levels against BA.4 and BA.5 up to 6-fold?

"In the face of SARS-CoV-2's continued evolution, we are very encouraged that mRNA-1273.214, our lead booster candidate for the fall, has shown high neutralizing titers against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which represent an emergent threat to global public health," Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement.

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