severe disease, according to doctors.
“There’s really no clear evidence that they’re more or less likely to make people sick and cause severe illness and death,” David Montefiori, a professor at the Human Vaccine Institute at Duke University Medical Center tells NBC.
As for how BA.5 differs from other subvariants, Francois Balloux, the director of the University College London Genetics Institute, says while BA.1 and BA.2 are “pretty different…BA.2, BA.4 and B.5, from a neutralizing antibody perspective, are essentially interchangeable.”
This may be good news for those infected with the BA.2 variant, who according to Balloux, may have some protection.
There is also another upside to the latest variant: less severe infections.
“The good news is that the vast majority of breakthrough infections now are outpatient illnesses. They are not resulting in the kind of severe illness that we saw earlier in the pandemic when no one had immunity, which led to increased hospitalizations and deaths,” Blumberg adds.
How to protect yourself
So how do you protect yourself from the latest variants?
Blumberg offers some suggestions:
- Ensure you are up-to-date with your COVID vaccinations and boosters. “There is abundant evidence that being vaccinated and getting all of the boosters that you are eligible for helps protect you against severe disease,” Blumberg says. In fact, according to recent data provided by the CDC, the risk of death from COVID was four times higher for those over 50 who had just the first booster, compared with those who had two boosters. This is especially key for those who are over 50 and immunocompromised.
- Continue to wear a well-fitted face covering (N95 or KN95, if possible) when you are indoors and you’re not able to socially distance yourself from people outside of your household. “Continue to mask if you are at risk for severe disease or if you are worried about that,” Blumberg adds.