Omicron subvariants gain more ground, including BA.4.6 in the Midwest

Though the 7-day average for new daily COVID-19 cases is slowly declining, the more transmissible and immune-evasive Omicron subvariants became even more dominant last week, with an offshoot called BA.4.6 gaining traction in some Midwestern states.As health officials brace for a possible spike in activity after school starts and people begin gathering more indoors in the fall, new surveys shed light on vaccination uptake prospects, both in kids and in adults ages 50 and older.Highest BA.4.6 proportions in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, NebraskaIn its weekly variant proportion updates today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the proportion of BA.5 viruses in sequenced samples last week rose from 84.5% to 87.1%, while BA.4 declined slightly, from 8.2% to 6.6%.

However, the proportion of BA.4.6 viruses rose from 4.2% last week to 4.8% this week.Midwestern states—Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska—are seeing the highest BA.4.6 proportions, where it makes up 13.2% of sequenced specimens.

The subvariant has also been reported in other US regions, especially in the east.Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in children last week grew for the fourth consecutive week, the American Academy of Pediatrics said in its latest weekly update.

Nearly 97,000 cases were reported for the week ending Aug 4, and kids' illnesses are trending upward just ahead of the start of the new school year.Polls shed light on vaccine uptake aheadA recent poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation that assessed parents' views on vaccinating their children against COVID-19 found that many were reluctant owing to worries about safety and not enough testing.