haxxiy on 21 April 2022
Seems like BA.2 will be succeeded by its 'children', three derived lineages (BA.4, BA.5, BA.2.12.1) sharing a mutation in site L452 and a similar transmission advantage of up to 30%. That doesn't necessarily mean they're more 'infectious' (since reproduction rates can't grow ad infinitum), just that they're overall more fit for whatever reason at this particular point in time.
While this might seem 'bad' at the surface, on the other hand, it indicates continuous antigenic drift from Omicron, like seasonal influenza, instead of the abrupt emergence of an unrelated lineage like it happened so often during the pandemic (the former isn't a guaranteed feature of endemicity, BTW; HIV evolves like that). That makes the virus more predictable.
