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CECC says BA.5 COVID subvariant may already be spreading in the community
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.
2022-07-28
