Joe Biden’s administration has announced a new strategy to tackle the highly contagious BA.5 coronavirus subvariant amid reports that the government was developing a plan to make second booster shots available to all US adults.
In a fact sheet published on Tuesday the White House said BA.5, a subvariant of the Omicron coronavirus variant, is already responsible for the majority of new Covid-19 cases in the US.
The subvariant, the government said, “has the potential to cause the numbers of infections to rise in the coming weeks”. The US is averaging about 100,000 new coronavirus cases daily, and hospitalizations have been on the rise since April – although they remain below previous peaks.
The White House said it would increase efforts to get more people vaccinated, particularly in areas where BA.5 is spreading most rapidly, and it encouraged Americans to test themselves regularly.
The announcement came as the Washington Post reported that Biden administration officials are working on a plan to make second booster vaccine shots available to adults under age 50 in a bid to tackle BA.5 and BA.4, another highly contagious Omicron subvariant.
For now, adults over 50 and people over 12 who are immunocompromised are eligible for a second booster four months after receiving their first.
The new plan, which is yet to be approved by regulators, “has the backing” of the White House Covid-19 coordinator, Ashish Jha, and the government’s top infectious-disease expert, Anthony Fauci, according to the Post.
The New York Times reported that Fauci in particular has “forcefully argued for broadening eligibility to all younger adults”. Many US adults received their first booster shots in November and December, and their protection could be waning, Fauci told the Times.
About 67% of all Americans are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the CDC said only 34.1% of eligible Americans – those age five and older – have received the first booster. Vaccination rates vary widely by state, with states in the south languishing at about 50% of residents fully vaccinated.
BA.4 and BA.5 currently make up 80% of cases in the US, according to the White House, which said BA.5 “may have some increased ability to escape immunity, including from prior infections”.
“It has the potential to cause the numbers of infections to rise in the coming weeks,” the White House said. “Given the rise of BA.5, it is essential that Americans stay up to date on their Covid-19 vaccinations. The science is clear that Covid-19 vaccines remain our single-most important tool to protect people and prevent serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths, and staying up to date on booster shots ensures that people have the highest level of protection possible.”
