Experts keeping close eye on new COVID subvariants in Ontario ahead of winter – CTV
Oct. 6, 2022
The BA.5 subvariant still accounts for more than 90 per cent of all COVID-19 cases in Ontario but experts are now keeping a close eye on the spread of two other subvariants which they say could end up factoring into the next wave of the pandemic.
The BQ.1.1 and BA.2.75.2 subvariants are both raising concerns in scientific circles because of mutations that could help them more effectively evade immunity from vaccination and prior infection.
Both subvariants, it should be noted, only account for a fraction of COVID-19 cases that have been sequenced globally so far.
But in a story published last week, Science magazine warned that “one or more may well cause big, new COVID-19 waves this fall and winter.”
Meanwhile, in Ontario viral activity could already be ticking up without either subvariant spreading widely.
