The sub-variants of Omicron-BA.5 and BA.5 are more transmissible, and can dodge some of the immune protection conferred by previous infection and vaccination, as per the scientists
Coronavirus Representational Image (Photo Credits: File Image)
Lisbon, Dec 24: Three new variants of the novel coronavirus were detected in Portugal amidst the ongoing second wave of the pandemic in the country, a top health official has confirmed. We now verify, in this study in collaboration with the Gulbenkian Institute of Science (IGC), that the (genetic) variants of this second wave in Portugal have mutations that were not described throughout the first wave, Xinhua news agency quoted Joao Paulo Gomes from the Bioinformatics Unit at the Department of Infectious Diseases, National Health Institute, as saying on Wednesday.
The three variants detected in all regions of Portugal are in a process of adaptation of the virus to humans , Gomes said, suggesting that they were mainly responsible for the second wave.