Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
The emerging BA.2 form of the Omicron coronavirus variant does not seem to be any more severe than the original BA.1 form, an official of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
Vaccines also continue to provide similar protection against the different forms of Omicron, Dr. Boris Pavlin of the WHO's COVID-19 Response Team told an online briefing.
The BA.2 subvariant is beginning to replace Omicron's more common BA.1 subvariant in countries such as Denmark.
Data from Denmark shows there appears to be no difference in severity, although Pavlin added that BA.2 has the potential to replace BA.1 globally.
"Looking at other countries where BA.2 is now overtaking, we're not seeing any higher bumps in hospitalization than expected," he said, Reuters reported.
While equally as severe, BA.2 is more transmissible than BA.1 and more able to infect vaccinated people, a Danish study concluded.
According to Pavlin, BA.2 is already becoming dominant in the Philippines, Nepal, Qatar, India, and Denmark.
"Vaccination is profoundly protective against severe disease, including for omicron. BA.2 is rapidly replacing BA.1. Its impact is unlikely to be substantial, although more data are needed,” he added, according to Reuters.
Israel recorded 297 cases of the emerging BA.2 variant on Wednesday, out of the reported 60,329 cases.