Biden administration urges caution as BA.5 COVID variant surges
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is warning Americans to take the latest COVID-19 variant, BA.5, more seriously, but its stated strategy, released Tuesday, is to keep doing more of the same — encouraging masking, testing and getting vaccinated against COVID-19 when applicable.
The BA.5 variant now makes up more than half of all cases in the United States, and the BA.4 variant makes up roughly 20%. The two new omicron subvariants are much more transmissible than earlier omicron subvariants, and, unlike prior variants, can evade natural immunity.
