4 COVID-19 Cases With New Subvariants, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, Detected in Singapore As of 23 October

You thought it was over?

Sike.

Four cases of COVID-19 subvariant BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 have recently been detected in Singapore as of 23 October.

According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), they all imported cases and none had to be hospitalised.

But it was not specified which country did the cases come from.

Apparently, the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 variants are more transmissible than the previous Omicron sub-lineages, but there’s no evidence to show they cause more severe illnesses.

Perhaps we’ll see another wave come at us soon. *cue bbq le music*

The Origins of BQ.1 and BQ.1.1

The new subvariants, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, came from BA.5, an Omicron sub-variant which amounts for around 68 per cent of the COVID-19 cases in the US.

But the new variants are slowly catching up.

BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 were first detected in Nigeria in July 2022 and have since been detected in over 50 different countries.

As of 21 October, the new variants have accounted for at least 16.6 per cent of infections in the US.

The good news is that most, if not all, of the new Omicron sub-variant vaccination boosters were meant to target the BA.5 and BA.4 variants. Since BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 were descendants of BA.5, some form of immunity can still be transferred over.

That’s a win.

But that doesn’t mean that you can drop your guard.

The US CDC reported on Friday (21 October) that the new variants make up around 9.5 per cent of circulating variants.

Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccines to be Offered to 18-49 YOs

In other vaccination news, MOH announced on 20 October that the Bivalent vaccination boosters will be offered to 18-49 year olds later on in 2022.

Before the announcement, the booster was only offered to those aged 50 and above.

The difference between the ordinary booster shots and the bivalent vaccine is that it will target both the original COVID-19 virus and the Omicron variant.

“It therefore will provide better protection against the newer COVID-19 variants. It is proven to be safe and effective,” said the ministry. MOH will also replace the current mRNA vaccines with these bivalent vaccines.

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