BA.2 COVID-19 subvariant on the rise in US, Fauci says

A subvariant of the Omicron variant, BA.2, is poised to cause an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the United States in the coming weeks, warned chief White House medical adviser and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, MD, yesterday on ABC News.Fauci said the variant, which is already dominant in some European countries, is 50% to 60% more transmissible than Omicron.

Currently BA.2 makes up roughly one third of COVID-19 cases in the United States but will likely overtake Omicron this spring."When you look at the cases, they do not appear to be any more severe and they do not appear to evade immune responses either from vaccines or prior infection," Fauci said.Health officials in New York City said today the rolling 7-day average of new cases at 610, up nearly 10% in a week.

Though nowhere near the levels seen during previous peaks, the activity in New York City could be a harbinger for the rest of the country.The 7-day average of new daily cases is 31,967, with 1,084 daily deaths, according to the Washington Post tracker.

In the past week, new daily cases fell 10%, hospitalizations fell 22%, and deaths fell 17%.FDA will discuss boosters in 2 weeksThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced that the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will meet on Apr 6 to discuss the future role of booster shots, following emergency use authorization (EUA) submissions from both Pfizer and Moderna for fourth doses."As we prepare for future needs to address COVID-19, prevention in the form of vaccines remains our best defense against the disease and any potentially severe consequences," said Peter Marks, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation