PUNE: Omicron's BA.2, which caused the third wave in India, remains the dominant variant of the virus in the country, top officials overseeing genomic surveillance told TOI on Monday.
Recently, subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 - both capable of marginally faster spread than BA.2 - were detected in parts of the country (including in Maharashtra) raising fears of Covid surges. But Dr Sujeet Kumar Singh, director of the National Centre for Disease Control, confirmed on Monday that BA.2 continues to be dominant.
"Most samples being sent for genome sequencing still show presence of BA.2, the older subvariant of Omicron," he said.
Experts said BA.2's continuing dominance is actually good news. "It was the major variant in the third wave in India and many are now immune to it," said Dr Rakesh Mishra, director, Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS).
Dr Mishra said, "BA.4 and BA.5 are only marginally more transmissible than BA.2 and may take a very long time to replace the latter or may not be able to replace it at all. This is because many people BA.4 and BA.5 try to infect might not even be susceptible due to protection from booster shots or hybrid immunity."
