US, Omicron-derived BA.4.6, 12.7% → 13.6% increase = Korea coverage

In the United States, BA.4.6, a derivative of the COVID-19 virus omicron strain, has been found to be on the rise. BA.4.6 was found to be more infectious than the dominant BA.5 mutation.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on October 7th (local time), an estimated 13.6% of new COVID-19 cases this week were infected with the Omicron BA.4.6 mutation. The figure is 0.9 percentage points higher than last week's 12.7%, showing a steady upward trend. As many as 11.9% were infected with the BA.4.6 mutation last week.

The COVID-19 Omicron BA.5 mutation remains the dominant strain. 79.2% of all infected individuals are Omicron BA.5 mutation infected. However, the BA.4.6 mutation is also increasing gradually across the United States and is of concern.

BA.4 and BA.5 derivative mutations have recently become pandemic. BA.4.6 was generated from BA.4, but it was found that there were more partial mutations in the spike protein, and the infectivity and immune evasion tendencies were stronger.

The United States recently began administering an improved vaccine that can address two mutations.