‘Centaurus’ Covid sub-variant continues to spread

Centaurus, the new Omicron sub-variant that has already been detected across 4 continents, is considered to easily overcome natural infection or vaccine provided immunity when compared to other strains detected so far. According to WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan, the new BA.2.75 variant, a.k.a. Centaurus, mutated to indicate a “major immune escape” and a “clear growth advantage”, especially across the Indian population.

 

“Every future variant will have these advantages if it has to out compete previous strains”, commented Swaminathan. “We now have 169 sequences from 12 countries — the increase observed is despite the reduction of [samples] in [genomic sequencing platform] Gisaid”, the scientist added.

Centaurus is infecting people across India and significant parts of Europe, including Germany and the Netherlands, as well as in Japan, the UK and the US. The strain was first identified in India, while the Netherlands was the last to announce that it has found BA.2.75 cases.

According to specialists at World Health Organisation, a concerning increase in case reports trend was registered during the last seven days, despite significant decrease of coronavirus testing worldwide.

Moreover, both European and US health authorities are currently recommending a second booster shot for people over 60 years of age or with low immunity levels.

“Prudent governments are really looking at their plans”, declared Mike Ryan, WHO’s executive director for health emergencies. “The virus is still transmitting, very widely. In doing so it is mutating. Some variants are fitter than previous variants — intrinsically more transmissible and/or better able to evade immune responses. Immunity lasts less time than we had hoped, so people can be infected repeatedly, with cumulative damage”, he also stated.

Omicron-variant vaccines are also backed up by EU and US official health regulators, WHO included, as health experts expect the virus family to continue to exist and evolve. Caution is advised among the general population, as the first vaccine variants targeting the Covid strain that first appeared in Wuhan, China in the end of 2019, are starting to lose their efficacy against the disease.

“[Protection] gets weak, it gets cracks, there are holes in the wall”, Ryan explained, while adding that is very common for the immune memory to diminish with time.

 

Source: ft.com