It doesn’t matter if you’ve had COVID, or have gotten the jab and all your boosters, chances are you’ll probably catch this variant, as it has a unique ability to skirt past antibodies. Yet how deadly is it, and how concerned should you be? STORY AT-A-GLANCE Rapid mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was expected and predicted, as vaccinating against any highly mutable virus, such as the coronavirus, pressures the virus to adapt. Omicron initially arose in “fully vaccinated” patients, raising suspicions that the mass vaccination campaign itself was driving the rapid mutation of the virus
One of the latest variants, BA.5 — now believed to be the cause of nearly all COVID infections — is tied with (and may even surpass) measles in terms of its infectiousness and transmissibility. That makes it the most infectious of all SARS-CoV-2 variants, and one of the most infectious viruses known to man
Fortunately, it’s also considerably less deadly than the original Wuhan strain
Even if you’ve had COVID before, got the jab and all your boosters, and even if you have hybrid immunity (meaning you’ve had both past infection and the COVID jab), chances are you’ll probably catch BA.5, as it seems particularly adept at circumventing all previous defenses
The likelihood of reinfection is the fodder fearmongerers needed to reignite calls for COVID restrictions such as lockdowns and stripping people of their inherent rights and freedoms, and, of course, more boosters As suspected, SARS-CoV-2 continues to mutate. This was entirely expected and predicted, as vaccinating against any highly mutable virus, such as the coronavirus, pressures the virus to adapt….