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CECC says BA.5 COVID subvariant may already be spreading in the community

CECC says BA.5 COVID subvariant may already be spreading in the community

2022-07-28

The CECC on Thursday announced 23,822 local COVID infections and 62 COVID-related deaths. It also reported that a suspected cluster infection at a shipyard in Southern Taiwan was in fact two separate clusters.One was caused by the BA.2 strain, which is dominant in Taiwan. The other, involving a shipyard employee and his two children, was caused by the BA.5, signaling that the subvariant could already be spreading in the community. The CECC says it is not considering tightening COVID measures.

Concerns that a cluster infection at a shipbuilding factory in Kaohsiung was caused by the BA.5 subvariant have been dispelled, after genetic sequencing showed that four of the workers were infected with the BA.2 subvariant.

Phillip Lo
CECC
The factory cluster infection and the family cluster involving BA.5, in fact, are two separate events.

In a cluster infection at a shipbuilding factory, 10 contacts tested positive in a first round of testing. Samples from seven of those 10 were sent for genetic sequencing, and four came back as BA.2 – the most common subvariant in Taiwan. The CT values of the other three were too low for testing. Only the initial case from the factory, and his two children, were found to be infected with BA.5.

With the source of the initial case’s infection unknown, the CECC said there is likely already community transmission of BA.5. It advised the public to exercise caution, but said there are currently no plans to implement stricter public health measures.

Phillip Lo
CECC
What we are concerned about now is the possibility that BA.5 has already spread in the community. This newest subvariant will likely continue to spread throughout the community in some way, and eventually replace BA.2 as the dominant strain.

The CECC says that mid-August will probably see another wave of infections, as BA.5 becomes the dominant strain in Taiwan. Next-generation boosters targeting new variants will only become available in the fall, months after the BA.5 wave. The CECC says that despite that, there are no plans to open up eligibility for fourth shots to the general population.

Chuang Jen-hsiang
CECC
Comparatively speaking, if we give fourth shots to young people, it will increase antibodies to levels just slightly higher than those following the third shots. However, in terms of slowing infection, or preventing severe symptoms, there’s no real noticeable effect. So we don’t have any plans for widespread vaccination with fourth shots.

Around the world Israel, France, the U.S., Thailand, Japan and South Korea have rolled out fourth shots, but in all cases, availability has been restricted to certain demographics.

The CECC says that for now it will continue to focus on high-risk groups for additional booster shots, saying the benefit of more boosters for youth is negligible.

源頭來自社區? 造船廠基因定序未驗出BA.5

2022-07-28

台灣新增23822例本土、62例死亡。至於高雄造船廠群聚事件,染疫15人,定序出4人是BA.2,目前只有指標個案是BA.5,指揮中心研判是不同感染,擔憂BA.5在社區傳開,也可能慢慢取代BA.2。但在次世代疫苗問世前,指揮中心認為第4劑預防重症沒有顯著效果,因此不打算全面接種。

高雄造船廠群聚事件,一度被懷疑是台灣首樁BA.5工廠群聚,但後續驗出陽性的員工,有4人基因定序是BA.2。

[[疫情指揮中心醫療應變組副組長 羅一鈞]]
“船廠員工所謂陽性群聚情形,跟我們的家庭群聚的BA.5,事實上應該是兩起不同的事件。”

造船廠群聚案,第一批接觸者採檢共10人陽性,7例送病毒基因定序,其中4人是近期全台大流行的BA.2株,3人因為病毒量過低確定無法驗出。目前只有指標個案以及兩個孩子驗出BA.5。

究竟從何感染成了一個謎,指揮中心懷疑,社區其實已有BA.5傳播鏈,呼籲民眾小心,但目前不打算加嚴整體防疫措施。

[[疫情指揮中心醫療應變組副組長 羅一鈞]]
“目前來講我們還是擔心說,BA.5在社區當中已經有一些感染的途徑,或傳染鏈發生。新的變異株大概預期會在社區當中,透過一些傳播的方式,慢慢的取代掉目前我們本土所主流的BA.2。”

指揮中心預測八月中下旬,可能再有一波疫情起來,BA.5成為主流變異株。但次世代疫苗最快也要十月中才有機會開打,是否要全面開放第4劑接種?

[[疫情指揮中心發言人 莊人祥]]
“如果比較年輕的族群,打第4劑雖然抗體效價,會提升到剛打第3劑的時候再高一點點,但是對於後續的傳染,跟重症的預防的減少上面都沒有顯著的效果。所以也沒有所謂的要全面接種的議題。”

全球打四劑國家,包括以色列、法國和美國,亞洲則有泰國、日本和韓國,都沒有開放全民開打。

指揮中心說,這是因為年輕族群打第四劑效果並不顯著,還是先以風險族群為主。

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