New COVID Variant Omicron BA.5: What You Need to Know
New COVID Variant Omicron BA.5: What You Need to Know The best way to protect yourself from BA. 5 is to get vaccinated and boosted, and to continue to follow public health recommendations such as wearing a mask and avoiding crowded places. New COVID Variant Omicron BA.5 What is the Omicron BA.5 variant? The Omicron BA. 5 variant is a subvariant of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It was first identified in South Africa in January 2023 and has since spread to over 100 countries. BA. 5 is now the most dominant COVID-19 variant circulating globally. How is the Omicron BA.5 variant different from other variants? BA. 5 is more transmissible than other variants of SARS-CoV-2, including previous Omicron subvariants. This means that it is easier for people to become infected with BA. 5, even if they are vaccinated or boosted. BA. 5 also appears to be more resistant to the antibodies produced by vaccines and prior infection. However, vaccines are s...
