a long slog

Carl Zimmer on why Omicron is likely to be with us for a long time.

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It’s also looking like Omicron has a remarkable capacity for more evolution. One of the newest subvariants, called BA.2.75.2, can evade immune responses better than all earlier forms of Omicron.

For now, BA.2.75.2 is extremely rare, making up just .05 percent of the coronaviruses that have been sequenced worldwide in the past three months. But that was once true of other Omicron subvariants that later came to dominate the world. If BA.2.75.2 becomes widespread this winter, it may blunt the effectiveness of the newly authorized boosters from Moderna and Pfizer.

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