Omicron sub-variant discussed by infectious disease expert

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The BA.2 subvariant of the Omicron coronavirus variant, which has quickly taken over in Denmark, is more transmissible than the more common BA.1 and more able to infect vaccinated people, a Danish study has found. infectious disease expert Professor Keith Neal explained the new variant is being increasingly found in people with Covid. Speaking to Sky News, he said: “It’s Omicron with a few more changes which seems to make it more transmissible.

“If it wasn’t more transmissible then it probably wouldn’t be increasing in numbers because the more transmissible variants are the ones that spread faster.

“It sounds obvious and that’s actually what happens.”

He added: “We don’t really know a lot. It may be that it’s invading the immune system. What we do know is the current vaccines used in this country are very good at stopping you from getting into hospital with serious Covid, stopping you from getting into ICU and very, very good at stopping you dying.

“Ever since we’ve had Alpha and Delta, the vaccines have been less good at stopping you catching the virus and for that virus to be causing mild symptoms in most people.”

Ms Leonard interjected: “You say it’s more infectious than Omicron. That was extraordinarily infectious that it took everyone by surprise.”

Mr Neal continued: “Delta did the same thing to Alpha. Alpha came along and got rid of the wild strain, Delta came along and got rid of Alpha, we had Beta and Gamma that weren’t as good as Delta and Omicron has come along.

“BA.2 is an updated version as far as the virus is concerned for spread but not in making you ill.”

But the variant being “less severe” than the Delta variant means there is “space” to “look… again” at the requirement for NHS workers to be fully vaccinated, a UK Government minister has said.

Covid-19: Javid says there will be a 'trouble' variant in future

Asked about reports that there could be a U-turn on the policy, Simon Clarke, chief secretary to the Treasury, told Sky News: “This is a policy we have always kept under review.

“We’ve been trying to strike, throughout this pandemic, the right balance between having the maximum impact in terms of measures that support public safety in the face of the virus, but also have the minimum impact in terms of our wider freedoms as a society.

“It is in that context that a decision was made last autumn to make sure we went ahead with the mandatory vaccination policy, and that was because we had the Delta variant, extremely dangerous, which took a huge toll on our society and we wanted to make sure that people going into hospital – very vulnerable people, whether they had Covid or another condition that required treatment – weren’t going to be faced with an increased risk of infection on the wards.

“We continue to monitor that situation very closely. What we know about Omicron is it is much more transmissible but less severe – any decision that is taken this week will reflect that reality.

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“I can’t pre-judge the decision that is going to be made but obviously we do recognise those realities, and that does open a space where we can look at this again.”

The Government has sinced scrapped plans that require health and social care workers in England to be vaccinated against coronavirus to continue in their roles following a consultation.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the House of Commons he believes it is “no longer proportionate” to require vaccination as a condition of deployment under law.

He said it is only right to review the policy, given that the Delta variant, dominant at the time the policy was announced, has now been replaced by the less severe Omicron.

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