A new corona variant has reached Germany: BQ.1.1 is currently the fastest growing omicron variant. But how dangerous is it really?
Berlin – In view of the war in Ukraine, the associated energy crisis and inflation in Germany, the corona virus has mentally taken a back seat for many in recent months. With the autumn wave, however, Covid-19 is returning to the agenda and brings with it a new variant: BQ.1.1 is currently causing increasing concern in virologists, as it is currently considered the fastest growing omicron variant. in Germany.
What could we face with the new Corona variant in winter and how dangerous is it really?
New crown variant: BQ.1.1 has arrived in Germany and is spreading rapidly
The new Omikron BQ.1.1 variant has arrived in Germany and is spreading rapidly. How Focus online reported, experts are already warning of the increase in staff shortages in the fall and winter. BQ.1.1 is “the fastest growing viral variant in Germany at the moment,” explains Friedemann Weber, Director of the Institute of Virology at Giessen Justus Liebig University Focus and continues: “Although their proportion of cases is relatively small and BA.5 remains dominant, this may change as the BQ1.1 curve is significantly steeper.”
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has currently listed the new crown variant much further down in its weekly report, but a more prominent placement shouldn’t be long. The variant is “although still rare, but increasingly detected in Germany” with the sister line BQ.1, confirms the RKI. Cambridge scientist and bioinformatician Cornelius Römer knows the numbers are about three weeks behind the infection process. By now, BQ.1.1 should already be found in ten percent of the samples, Römer presumes aloud Spiegel.
The Corona BQ.1.1 variant will lead “a wave of variants in Europe before the end of November”.
In early October, the scientist posted on Twitter that it was becoming quite clear “that BQ.1.1 will lead a wave of variants in Europe and North America before the end of November. Its relative share has more than doubled every week.” A dominance of the Corona variant does not seem far away.
German vaccine researcher Charité, Leif Sander, also suspects, according to the General of Augusta: “In the coming weeks, BQ.1.1 could become the most common variant and replace BA.5.” According to Römer, the current autumn wave would then be joined by another wave, led by BQ.1.1 and other Omicron stresses. The result would be a double wave, explains the bioinformatician Spiegel.
Rapid spread of corona variant BQ.1.1 – even omcron vaccines cannot prevent a new wave
The reason for the rapid spread of the variant is a pronounced immune leak. BQ.1.1 is therefore less easily recognized by the human immune system and, in the worst case, remains invisible to antibodies. Even recently recovered and fully vaccinated people can therefore become infected with the corona variant. From this it can be concluded that even herd immunity and adapted omcron vaccines could not reliably prevent another wave of infection, reports Spiegel.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach warned in a conversation with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung so to be more careful again. Because if BQ.1.1 prevailed, “those who got infected in the summer could probably easily get infected again”.
To make matters worse, the virus variant BQ.1.1 is not alone, but is accompanied, among others, by the sister line Omikron XXB.
The Omicron vaccine offers protection against the new corona variant BQ.1.1
But there is also good news: “Vaccinations have so far provided very reliable protection against severe disease, even with new variants. It will be no different with BQ.1.1 etc. “, judged virologist Friedemann Weber in an interview with the Focus. Because BQ.1.1 is derived from BA.5, a BA.5 booster vaccine may be useful, Weber continues.
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“The best protection we currently have is a booster vaccination with the Omikron vaccine,” agrees Römer in an interview with the Spiegel to. While not perfectly adapted to BQ.1.1, it is still much closer to the underline than the original vaccine.
