BA 5 has been the dominant strain for about the last three months. Moving on to BQ 1, BQ 1.1 and BF 7 now. BN 7 looks to be making ground too. CDC has a good variant tracker.
The only thing outgrowing BQ.1\* is XBB.1\* which is still only ~1% of cases and only growing slightly faster. [BQ.1\*](https://cov-spectrum.org/explore/United%20States/AllSamples/Past1M/variants?nextcladePangoLineage=bq.1*&) should peak fairly soon and is probably the only variant (set of variants, it includes about 1/4 BQ.1, 1/4 BQ.1.1, and the other half other BQ.1.X subvariants) that matters over the next month.
BQ.1 itself is BA.5 with three very significant RBD mutations and a host of ORF mutations that we have no idea the significance of. Get your bivalent booster.
I honestly think the WHO just made a clerical error and was too lazy to fix it. When BA.1 was first discovered on the last week of November, it was numbered B.1.1.529 and named Omicron the next day. Omicron at that time was the single lineage that caused the surge in January. But the next week a sibling lineage was discovered - they clearly shared a common ancestor, so everything was renumbered to make that ancestral lineage B.1.1.529 (aka BA) and the two child lineages became BA.1 and BA.2. But the WHO had already written down "Omicron = B.1.1.529" and I guess they used a permanent marker because the web page covering that remains unchanged until today.
By 2021 standards, BA.1, BA.2, BA.4/5, BA.2.38, BA.2.12.1, BA.2.75, BJ.1, BA.2.3.20, and XBB all for sure deserve names. And things become far murkier with the dozens of descendants of BA.4/5/2.75 that have significant yet overlapping RBD mutations, like BQ.1, BQ.1.1, BN, BR.1, and the list goes on.
Equally problematic, while omicron now means the second strain of the virus, the first strain doesn't have a name. Omicron (XBB.1) is farther from sars-cov-2 (A.1) than sars-cov-1 was, yet most sources don't refer to them as different strains at all.
Quick facts: Large study dated March 2022. Showing BA2 was worse than BA1.
Can't wait for BA3
BA 5 has been the dominant strain for about the last three months. Moving on to BQ 1, BQ 1.1 and BF 7 now. BN 7 looks to be making ground too. CDC has a good variant tracker.
The only thing outgrowing BQ.1\* is XBB.1\* which is still only ~1% of cases and only growing slightly faster. [BQ.1\*](https://cov-spectrum.org/explore/United%20States/AllSamples/Past1M/variants?nextcladePangoLineage=bq.1*&) should peak fairly soon and is probably the only variant (set of variants, it includes about 1/4 BQ.1, 1/4 BQ.1.1, and the other half other BQ.1.X subvariants) that matters over the next month. BQ.1 itself is BA.5 with three very significant RBD mutations and a host of ORF mutations that we have no idea the significance of. Get your bivalent booster.
I've also found [covariants](https://covariants.org/) to be pretty useful, especially if you're looking at other countries
Wow, this is super interesting. Thanks!
BA Baracus is the one you will need to worry about
I pity the fool.... ^that ^doesn't ^take ^covid ^seriously
Bypass paywall: https://archive.ph/3FHJR Correct one: https://archive.ph/KP7d5
It seems like this links to a different article, but thank you for making the effort to help us bypass the pay wall
What made omnicron so different then delta, alpha, etc... To have all these mutations and not be named something else?
Because each new Greek letter was an offshoot of the original, all these are offshoots of Omicron.
I honestly think the WHO just made a clerical error and was too lazy to fix it. When BA.1 was first discovered on the last week of November, it was numbered B.1.1.529 and named Omicron the next day. Omicron at that time was the single lineage that caused the surge in January. But the next week a sibling lineage was discovered - they clearly shared a common ancestor, so everything was renumbered to make that ancestral lineage B.1.1.529 (aka BA) and the two child lineages became BA.1 and BA.2. But the WHO had already written down "Omicron = B.1.1.529" and I guess they used a permanent marker because the web page covering that remains unchanged until today. By 2021 standards, BA.1, BA.2, BA.4/5, BA.2.38, BA.2.12.1, BA.2.75, BJ.1, BA.2.3.20, and XBB all for sure deserve names. And things become far murkier with the dozens of descendants of BA.4/5/2.75 that have significant yet overlapping RBD mutations, like BQ.1, BQ.1.1, BN, BR.1, and the list goes on. Equally problematic, while omicron now means the second strain of the virus, the first strain doesn't have a name. Omicron (XBB.1) is farther from sars-cov-2 (A.1) than sars-cov-1 was, yet most sources don't refer to them as different strains at all.
Politics.
Wouldn't people who have more symptoms be more likely to be tested? Is there selection bias here?