Pretty good information with links.. Just more information about the newest variant and its ability to escape antibody immunity.
" BQ.1.1 is already known to escape antibody immunity, rendering useless monoclonal antibody treatments used in high-risk individuals with COVID. According to a study last month out of Peking University’s Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center in China, BQ.1.1 escapes immunity from Bebtelovimab, the last monoclonal antibody drug effective on all variants, as well as Evusheld, which works on some. Along with variants CA.1 and XBB, BQ.1.1 could lead to more severe symptoms, the authors wrote."
I think we're going to see many iterations of the immune escape model of viral evolution. The only way to snuff that out is a truly universal vaccine, i.e. one that is effective against all possible variants, and potentially against new coronaviruses, and one that is delivered to most of the world's population. A tall order.
It's always worth checking the CDC Covid tracker, referenced in the Fortune article, to see which variants are dominant and which are trending upwards. CDC publishes stats for the USA and eight regions.
We've seen with previous waves of Covid, that once a particular variant begins to predominate in one place, it can quickly do the same elsewhere, to become the global leader until displaced by a more transmissible competitor.
Hmm, that would make some of the CDC data questionable, but I guess the trends would still be visible? In the UK I don't think our Covid data collection is up to much either.
I hope that they are working on a new monoclonal antibody drug to replace the newly ineffective ones. It was very difficult for me to get my first dose of Evusheld when it became available in the US. I was willing to travel 5 hours one way to get it and would travel as far as I need for a new monoclonal antibody drug. I think they are that important.
First they were named after Greek letters, like Omicron. Then came a few short variants BA 4 or BA 5, now we have sub variants.
COVID trackers have suddenly been subjected to a dizzying barrage of BA.4.6s and BF.7s and BA.2.75.2s and BQ.1.1s. There’s even an ominous new sublineage called XBB.
But under the surface, something new — and potentially dangerous for the most vulnerable among us — has been happening: Omicron has started to “splinter.”
Instead, what scientists are seeing now is a bunch of worrisome Omicron descendants arising simultaneously but independently in different corners of the globe — all with the same set of advantageous mutations that help them dodge our existing immune defenses and drive new waves of infection.
Of all 300 post-BA.5 sublineages currently being monitored by the World Health Organization experts are most concerned about two Omicron spinoffs that have barely even registered in America yet: BQ.1.1 and XBB.
Antibody therapies (bebtelovimab and Evusheld) don’t work against XBB and B.Q.1.1.
As per the US FDA thus people at high risk for severe COVID are likely to be even more vulnerable than before (though not completely vulnerable as vaccination and prior infection still offer some defense against serious illness).
Variant XBB in particular is “significantly more immune evasive than other known variants”.
In the UK the next wave is already building BQ.1.1 infections are doubling every week, a rate of growth that far exceeds other leading sublineages; overall daily cases have doubled (on average) over the last month as well. Germany, France and Belgium are experiencing similarly rapid B.Q.1.1 growth, with the latter country facing a “wave [that’s] well on track to match or even exceed [its] Omicron BA.1 wave,” according to evolutionary biologist Tom Wenseleers.
Meanwhile, XBB is driving steep COVID case surges in Singapore and Bangladesh, two of the first countries where it has achieved dominance.
Dick - This means we will continue being cautious. I have basically entertained myself at home since early 2020. We can get outside for hikes and bike rides.
Sadly, my son who lives with us, has also had to endure a very limited social life. He has Down Syndrome and Autism and very much enjoyed hanging out with his peers. We try to get him out everyday but he is also immunocompromised. We are all vaccinated as much as we can be.
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PROTECTION FROM COVID WITH EVUSHELD??
