BA.4, BA.5 variants could spark ‘new wave’ of COVID this summer, Massachusetts reports 1,529 new cases | The Boston Herald

CEID Faculty Dr. David Hamer weighs in on Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5:

“…It appears that the variants, known as BA.4 and BA.5, are more transmissible and evade the immune response from prior omicron strains — making natural immunity from past infection or vaccine-induced immunity less effective.

‘This could mean a risk for a new wave this summer,’ said Davidson Hamer, a Boston University School of Public Health infectious disease specialist.

The recent evidence about the variants ‘suggests a potential risk for a substantial rise in infections this summer or early fall,’ he added. ‘This is already happening in Europe.’…”

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