However, there are three subvariants that many scientists have begun increasingly focusing on in recent weeks: BA.2.75.2, BF.7 (also known as BA.5.2.1.7) and BQ.1.1.

Immunologist Yunlong Richard Cao, one of the authors of that study, called BA.2.75.2 and BQ.1.1 the "most antibody-evasive convergent variants tested, far exceeding BA.5 and approaching SARS-CoV-1 level." (SARS-CoV-1 is the original SARS virus which caused an outbreak in the early 2000's).

The study noted that the new variants could escape the majority of neutralizing antibodies, which may make it hard for patients' bodies to neutralize the virus and could lead to more severe symptoms.

The second study found that the neutralization of BA.2.75.2 by antibodies was significantly lower in samples they took in Stockholm than with all other variants they tested, including BA.5.

According to Cornelius Roemer, a computational biologist from the University of Basel in Switzerland, initial data found using a tool by the Bloom Lab shows that BQ.1.1 is better at escaping antibodies than even BA.2.75.2