NORFOLK, Va. — Health experts are tracking the most contagious strain of COVID-19 yet.
It’s capable of causing reinfections in those with natural or vaccine-induced immunity, according to the Virginia Dept. of Health.
"December, January, February was Omicron BA.1, then we go Omicron BA.2, then we got Omicron BA 2.12.1 and now BA.4 has peaked and is dropping, and we’re in the middle of BA.5," said Dr. Elizabeth Broderick.
The CDC said the BA.5 variant now accounts for more than half of the current COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
"Very few people are getting PCR tested, so the actual number of humans who have COVID is higher than that," Dr. Broderick said.
Broderick said this strain is the most contagious we’ve seen so far, meaning reinfection rates are speeding up for some people, both vaccinated and unvaccinated. Though, symptoms are still much milder for people who are vaccinated.
"If you had a mild case of COVID the first time, and I hope you did, then you may not have mounted a really high antibody response..."
For much of the pandemic, the only positive of catching the virus was that you likely wouldn't catch it again for a while, though scientists never nailed down exactly how long that period of immunity lasted. Some used that as their reasoning for not getting the vaccine.
Now, as reinfection rates go up, health officials say that argument has pretty much gone out the window.
"Our protection from a wild-type infection of COVID might actually be a lot less than 90 days," Broderick said. "The record in some studies in Europe is a reinfection in 20 days."
She said the good news is that updated vaccines are on the way this fall.
Two weeks ago, the FDA chose a new vaccine design that they hope will fight the initial strain of the virus, along with the BA.4 and BA.5 variants.
"I think it kind of gives our immune system a refresher course—here’s the bad guy and he’s changed his appearance," Broderick said.
As of Monday, none of the seven cities are considered areas of high transmission. However, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Hampton and Newport News all have medium rates of transmission.
"We’re not in 2020, thank goodness, but if you’re in high transmission and you’re in an indoor public place, I would wear a good mask," she said.
Health leaders say, at this point, this particular strain isn’t any more severe than the other Omicron subvariants. They also say the symptoms are relatively the same as previous variants.