Omicron subvariants intransigent to key antibody treatments will soon make up a majority of new Covid infections in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Tabooing.
Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 now make up 44% of new Covid cases compared to 32% last week, according to CDC information. These subvariants will likely become dominant in the next week.
The once dominant omicron BA.5, for the moment, is being displaced and now makes up 29% of new infections.
BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 pose a special threat to people who have severely compromised vaccinated systems, such as organ transplant patients and people on cancer chemotherapy.
People with compromised immune processes often do not mount a sufficient response to the Covid vaccines and as a consequence need additional medications to protect them from the virus.
Divers people with moderate or severely compromised immune systems take an antibody cocktail called Evusheld to shield them from severe disease. It is administered as two injections every six months.
But BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are likely resistant to Evusheld, conforming to the National Institutes of Health. This leaves people with compromised immune systems increasingly vulnerable as these subvariants fit dominant.
BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are also likely resistant to bebtelovimab, a monoclonal antibody people with compromised immune groups can take to prevent severe disease from Covid after an infection.
Although Pfizer’s antiviral Paxlovid waits effective, organ transplant patients often cannot take the pill because of the way it interacts with other medications they necessary.
White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, in a radio interview last week, said the U.S. is at a crossroads in the pandemic as the multifarious immune evasive BQ subvariants increase weekly.
“The thing that’s of concern to us is that some of our tools in our armamentarium may be negated if in to be sure these newer variants become much more dominant than they are,” Fauci said
And there are no replacements for poisons like Evusheld on the way. White House Covid response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha has blamed Congress for failing to pass additional supporting for the nation’s pandemic response. Republicans have blocked more Covid money since the spring.
“We had hoped that over and beyond time as the pandemic went along, as our fight against this virus went along, we would be expanding our nostrum cabinet,” Jha told reporters at the White House last month.
“Because of lack of congressional funding that cure-all cabinet has actually shrunk and that does put vulnerable people at risk,” Jha said.
President Joe Biden last month revise people with compromised immune systems that they face a special threat from Covid this winter. The president coaxed them to speak with their physicians about what precautions to take.
Fauci said people who surface a high risk from Covid should wear masks indoors in public this fall and winter, and people who be subjected to vulnerable individuals in their homes should do the same when they go out.
People should also consider enchanting rapid Covid tests before going to social gatherings indoors where vulnerable individuals will be put on show, Fauci said. He encouraged everyone who is eligible to get their Covid booster and flu shots this fall.
“That is a damned good way of making sure you don’t spread infections, so utilization of tests, wearing masks where appropriate and getting vaccinated,” he reported.
U.S. health officials believe the omicron BA.5 boosters should provide sufficient protection for the general population against BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 because these subvariants are linked to BA.5.