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The BA.5 omicron variant is now the dominant strain in the U.S., and it is leading to a new wave of COVID-19 infections. BA.5 was responsible for nearly 54% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., and BA.4, a similar variant, accounted for another 17%, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Experts are concerned because this particular variant appears to be good at evading the immune system.
"This BA.5 variant is hypercontagious, and right behind it, new variants are coming," says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. "We will continue to generate these variants until people are masked and immunized."
Dr. Poland explains that the transmissibility of BA.5 represents the evolution of the virus to become more contagious and able to evade immune protection from previous infection or vaccination.
"Whether you've been vaccinated, whether you've been previously infected, whether you've been previously infected and vaccinated, you have very little protection against BA.5 in terms of getting infected or having mild to moderate infection," says Dr. Poland. "Thankfully, you still do have good protection against dying, being hospitalized or ending up on a ventilator if you are up to date on your vaccinations."
Due to the consequences of reinfection, including the possibility of long COVID-19, Dr. Poland urges people to continue to take precautions to protect themselves.
"The reality is, it's important to be up to date on the COVID-19 vaccinations that are recommended for your age group, health condition, etc.," says Dr. Poland. "Sometime this fall, we may well have a variant-focused vaccine, so get it when it becomes available. And wear a proper mask properly when you are indoors around people who are not your family or in a crowded outdoor venue."
On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Poland shares the latest COVID-19 news and answers listener questions.
To practice safe social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, this interview was conducted using video conferencing. The sound and video quality are representative of the technology used. For the safety of its patients, staff and visitors, Mayo Clinic has strict masking policies in place. Anyone shown without a mask was recorded prior to COVID-19 or recorded in an area not designated for patient care, where social distancing and other safety protocols were followed.
Read the full transcript.
Research disclosures for Dr. Gregory Poland.
Connect with others talking about the pandemic and supporting one another in the COVID-19 support group.
Information in this post was accurate at the time of its posting. Due to the fluid nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific understanding, along with guidelines and recommendations, may have changed since the original publication date.
For more information and all your COVID-19 coverage, go to the Mayo Clinic News Network and mayoclinic.org.
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Thank you so much Dr. Poland. You have so much knowledge and you never stop learning. Your easy to understand information has been so helpful to me and my friends. I watch every episode and take notes. I wish more people would listen to you.
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5 ReactionsStill sounds very contradicting to me. It says the shots and previous infections do not protect you , yet you won't be hospitalized for this variant, so why keep dong the shots, if natural immunity protects the same, if not longer than the vaccines last then we should be ok if people are not getting hospitalized for it.
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1 ReactionHow can I submit a vaccine question to Dr. Poland?
With this new hyper contagious virus, there are more reinfections. He is saying that no vaccine is 100% perfect and with the evolution of the virus and it being very contagious, more so than the last one, if you are vaccinated you are now more likely to get infected but you are not likely to die. Even if you had Covid, it doesn’t give you the immunity that it did in the past. Reinfections are occurring for people who have been vaccinated, who have had Covid, and who have the hybrid of being vaccinated and having had Covid. He is also saying that you really don’t want to get Covid twice. People who have it twice run higher risk for getting diabetes and other bad conditions. Read the transcript for more on this. So in short to answer your question, get vaccinated to prevent severe disease, and to prevent getting Covid twice.
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3 ReactionsVery interesting and scary, especially since since working in crowds during pandemic I have gotten at least 3-4 variants now, Thank god I recovered just fine and quickly. I have no choice when catching it before and after a vaccine. I really hope my type of work does not make me get diabetes again from always working with those who had it and did not stay home..
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1 ReactionSo you won't die.
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1 ReactionWhen I have to be around people I wear an n95 mask and protective glasses that go over my regular glasses. I hope you can stay safe.
People who got it and over it fine all around me (not that it is not serious for others, healthy or otherwise) sounds wrong to do shots on top of it, for all those.
Recently I read that "both Evusheld and booster # 2 (5th dose) can be taken at 2 weeks interval" (UAB has an article) ... can someone comment on this:
At times it sounds redundant ( I do understand that Evusheld offers protection against Ba4 & 5 then why take the booster # 2)
Any thoughts !
Thanks
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1 ReactionYou might want to go back and listen to earlier podcasts. A person can seem fine but problems can still be happening.