A new Covid variant that is feared to be the ‘most vaccine-resistant yet’ has sent case numbers soaring in Singapore — and it is already in the US.
The mutant strain — dubbed XBB — is another spin-off of the Omicron variant and has been blamed for Singapore’s infection numbers doubling in the past fortnight.
The spike protein is now exhibiting mutations in the receptor binding region, an important part of which virus-fighting antibodies dock and prevent infections.
This spot changes make it less recognisable to people who have had Covid before or are currently vaccinated.
Johns Hopkins University Professor Dr Amesh Amalja raised alarm about the new version of the virus. [to date].’
But there is no evidence that it is more likely to cause severe disease or death compared to its parent or sister strains – which have all proven to be mild for most.
Only two Singaporeans are killed each day by Covid according to figures.
In the past, there was only one or two global dominant variants. However, now it appears that the virus is spreading to a multitude of related subvariants.
All of them are derived from Omicron, which has set records for worldwide cases. They also share similar mutations.
Scientists were concerned about BA.275’s recent success in South Asia. In the US, the BA.4.6 and BF.7 sub-strains have been slowly growing.
In Europe, BQ1.1 has been gaining momentum in the last weeks and appears to be the dominant strain for this autumn.
In Singapore, around 8,000 are infected daily with Covid. XBB is blamed for this sharp increase.
Two people have died from this virus. This suggests that it is just as mild than the Omicron spinoffs which are now so common
This graph displays the percentage of cases by variants in Singapore. This graph shows that XBB has been on the rise in Singapore.
A graph by Singapore’s healthcare authorities shows that the number of patients in Singapore has increased over recent weeks. The data shows that they have doubled within a week.
The graph below shows Covid hospitalizations in Singapore (yellow lines) as well as the seven-day average of Covid cases (yellow lines). Scientists claim that hospitalizations in Singapore are on the rise ‘proportionally,’ with no indications of the variant being more likely to lead to severe diseases than other ones.
At least three XBB infections have been detected in America and 16 countries, including India, Australia and the UK.
According to scientists in Singapore, it’s 30% less mild than the BA.5 Omicron strain.
XBB is composed of two versions scientifically known as BJ.1 or BA.2.75 that have merged.
According to authorities, it was discovered in India for the first times in August. But, until now, there has not been a significant wave.
Covid variants can merge — in a process scientifically known as recombination — if they infect the same cell in the same person at the same time, and then swap genes.
There have been several recombinant variants already — such as ‘Delta-plus’ last year — but none have led to a major surge in infections.
They are more infectious than their competition and they die most quickly.
But XBB appears to be the most successful yet, and is behind 54 per cent of infections in Singapore, up from 22 per cent a week ago.
One possible cause for concern is that Singapore’s reinfection rate has risen dramatically since the arrival of XBB – from 12 to 17.5 per cent of all cases.
This could be due to the waning of vaccine protection.
However, officials anticipate the peak of the wave in mid November. It will be a brief and steep wave but it will still be mild.
This happens as America struggles with winter vaccination despite being warned by another Covid wave.
Current US efforts include the introduction of a bivalent vaccine for all over-5s. It is intended to protect against Covid variants BA.5 or BA.5.
Although it is not clear if it will protect against XBB as well, scientists believe it will help people refresh their immunity.
Only six percent of eligible people have contacted us so far, one month after our program was launched.
The eligibility for over-12s was increased to 5s last week, and American health officials recommended that they also receive jabs.
The move is also being made in countries that are raising their Covid age limits. There have been concerns about side effects like inflammation of the heart and evidence it may be harmful to children.