Posted on 12/09/2021 8:12:06 AM PST by Red Badger
A new version of the Omicron coronavirus variant was designated on Tuesday that experts say will be harder to track because of its genetics.
The new lineage, called BA.2, has been spotted seven times so far across South Africa, Australia, and Canada.
BA.2 is genetically quite different from the original Omicron lineage, now called BA.1, which has been spreading across the world, said Francois Balloux, the director of the University College London Genetics Institute, per The Guardian.
Crucially, it doesn't have the characteristic S-gene dropout mutation which allows Omicron BA.1 to be easily identified via PCR test results, the main way the variant has been tracked so far.
That means that "the two lineages may behave differently," he said, The Guardian reported.
A sister lineage to Omicron has been designated BA.2, and the main lineage named BA.1. BA being an alias for B.1.1.529, now redefined to encompass both groups.
(Just taxonomy changing to encompass the full phylogeny, BA.2 is not cause for concern.)https://t.co/AqgRKXcnPP
— Theo Sanderson (@theosanderson) December 7, 2021 While the change will make tracking harder, it is "nothing to be scared of yet" said Vinod Scaria, a clinician and computational biologist at the CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, in a tweet.
David Stuart, a professor of structural biology at Oxford University, agreed.
"I don't think there's any reason to think that the new outlier is any more of a threat than the form of Omicron that's knocking around at the moment in the UK," he said, per the Financial Times.
"But it is terribly early," he added.
PCR tests should still pick up this variant but might not be able to distinguish it from others BA.2 carries "many of the defining mutations" of Omicron, according to Andrew Rambaut, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Edinburgh, UK, who reviewed the mutations in a blog post.
But it also has dozens of mutations BA.1 doesn't have and dropped dozens that do appear on BA.1.
Most notably, BA.2 is lacking the specific mutation that scientists were using as a quick way to track Omicron: the 69/70del mutation on the S gene, as Insider previously reported.
PCR tests check for different markers to see if someone is carrying the coronavirus, one of which targets the S gene.
When someone with the BA.1 lineage of Omicron gets a PCR test, one of the markers won't work: this is called an S-gene dropout.
This was an easy way to separate Omicron from other variants currently circulating, most of which wouldn't cause this S-gene dropout.
But this likely won't be the case for the BA.2 lineage. That means scientists will have to depend on more time-consuming and less widespread sequencing to identify it.
For Emma Hodcroft, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Basel, that means that "there may be more Omicron than we think," per the Financial Times.
She told that outlet that "from the numbers we have right now, I don't think there's a very large hidden burden from BA.2."
In a tweet, Hodcroft emphasized that PCR tests should still work to detect whether someone has the coronavirus, even with this new lineage.
"This means we can't use this 'shortcut' to find possible Omicron cases for BA.2 only. However, the PCR test itself still works!" she said.
I guess I was wrong - sort of. I had predicted just a couple of days ago that Omicron would fail to generate much of a fear response. My prediction was that the entities that need to keep the fear up would next try two variants at once. Instead we get mutations of mutations.
Well, I guess I can claim partial credit on my prediction. We now have two at once, just two variants of a variant...er...what? Hey, give them credit for conserving Greek alphabet letters! ;-)
It is becoming increasingly difficult to take anything said in relation to covid, vaccines, mandates, masks, etc. seriously. It is just absurd. It is all absurd.
Omicron Pro Edition
HAHA, perfect.
I'm waiting for the Tappa Nu Keg variant
I’m also waiting for the I PHELTA THI variant
**
They mentioned that this new variant of the variant is more difficult to differentiate in the test.
Prediction: the next variant, or variant on the variant, will be claimed to completely elude tests. Maybe even not have any symptoms or only mild symptoms. (similar to Omicron)
That way they can get the fear back up - "You may have covid and not know it, not be able to test for it!" "Your friends and family may have covid and not know it, not be able to test for it!"
They sort of floated this idea early on in the scam-demic when it was theorized that 80% of the people that had covid didn't even know it. That didn't get much traction then, but we know how the left likes to dust off old ideas and keep re-trying them.
Of course it is going to be hard to generate much fear for their flea-circus covid variant that you can't see or test for - who cares? Right? Well, that's where the fear porn will have to take a new tactic - this variant you may not even know you have can turn into a bad variant later - trust us. So you'll want to get vaccinated and boosted to protect yourself.
Or, even better. The new undetectable, symptom-free variant will be blamed for all kinds of long term bad effects - such as blood clotting, Myocarditis, Pericarditis, Guillain-Barre syndrome... You know, all the side effects associated with the vaccines. They'll now be blamed on this new covid variant and in a beautifully deft move, pivoted to be justifications for more vaccines and boosters.
Any takers? Any bets?
Of course it did!
We can’t track this one so EVERYONE has to get 2 COVID shots, a booster COVID shot, then THREE omicron shots. Then a booster every six months just to be safe.
WHEN ARE THE SHEEPLE GOING TO WAKE UP?
Which means it is still in development, with more 'features" to come...
yawn…..
All this because of bat soup from a Chinese wet market.... sure.
Wait, PFE has not had enough hours to capitalize on the first Omicron mutant...
COVID1984OmicronOmicronBA2
ScamdemicInfinity2
Now we are all double dog doomed.
LOL
No worry, get a shot, get a booster, mask up.
What is DU?
DemocraticUnderground.com
Super liberal/Progressive board full of left wing insanity.
Not to mention Taka Kappa Acid (I went to college in the late 60’s so that one was popular then) and Etta Pi.
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