COVID Variants Omicron BQ.1/BQ.1.1 Make up 44% of U.S. Cases: CDC

(CTN News) – The Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 were projected to account for around 44.2% of COVID-19 cases in the nation for the week ending Nov. 12, according to the U.S. national public health agency, up from 32.6% the week before.

The two variants made up less than 10% of all cases in the nation last month, but they currently outnumber Omicron’s BA.5, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

They are closely related to Omicron’s BA.5 sub-variant, which was the cause of COVID-19 cases in the United States earlier this year.

For the week ending Nov. 12, the U.S. CDC reported that BQ.1.1 made up almost 24.1% of circulating variations and that BQ.1 was responsible for an estimated 20.1% of circulating cases.

Related: COVID Variants Omicron BQ.1/BQ.1.1 Makeup 35% Of U.S. Cases: CDC

Although there is no proof that the new varieties are more severe than Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, they have become more prevalent in locations like Europe, Singapore, and Canada, among others.

As a result of the developing tendency, authorities and vaccine producers are keeping a closer eye on the new varieties in case they start to circumvent the protection provided by the present vaccinations.

According to the CDC, the Omicron BA.5 subvariant is thought to account for around 29.7% of cases in the United States, down from almost 41.1% in the week ending Nov. 5.

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