Omicron BA.5: No one is fully protected

There's a new omicron subvariant taking over: BA.5. Scientists expect it will soon be responsible for most COVID-19 infections. But how dangerous is it? And what protection can vaccines offer?

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The new BA.5 variant will probably spread quickly, experts say

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Due to the global increase in coronavirus cases caused by the BA.5 subvariant, the World Health Organization (WHO) currently classifies it as a "variant of concern." Experts at Germany's top health agency have warned that infections will likely increase this summer.

Germany's Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the country's national public health organization, reported Thursday that the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are growing faster than all other variants and concluded the two could soon be responsible for the majority of the country's cases.

The BA.5 variant already accounts for 10% of current infections — twice as many as last week.

BA.5 started in South Africa

The BA.5 variant had already raised concerns in South Africa in early May, but the subsequent wave was relatively small and is currently subsiding.

In Portugal, however, BA.5 is already responsible for 80% of all new infections. The variant is more contagious than its predecessors, like BA.2. Along with being harder for neutralizing antibodies to locate, BA.5 is more transmissible than other omicron subvariants.

Like other omicron subvariants, BA.5 infections are milder than infections with other COVID strains, like delta.