According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron accounted for 81.9 percent of the circulating coronavirus variants in the United States for the week ending July 23.
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
This was higher than the previous week’s estimate of 75.9 percent prevalence.
BA.5 has been responsible for an increase in new infections around the world, and it has proven to be particularly adept at evading immune protection provided by vaccination or prior infection.
According to the data, Omicron subvariant BA.4 accounts for 12.9 percent of all circulating variants in the United States.
The US Food and Drug Administration has requested that vaccine manufacturers focus on the two currently dominant subvariants for a possible fall season booster dose.
US health officials are also urging people aged 50 and up to get a booster shot, adding that doing so will not prevent them from receiving another “bivalent” booster designed specifically to combat Omicron later this year.
