COVID-19 subvariants not expected to slow progress against pandemic
But lifting the emergency could jeopardize health care coverage, running counter to many Democrats’ ambitions and posing a political risk in November. The end of the emergency could decrease Medicaid enrollment by at least 10 million people, jeopardize access to telehealth and cut funding that hospitals and states have relied on to combat the pandemic as key flexibilities only allowed under the emergency are lifted.
Increasing coverage in Medicaid and the federal health insurance marketplace has been one of the Biden administration’s main health priorities and most touted achievements.
A new subvariant
The subvariant raises many questions that remain unanswered. In parts of Europe and South Africa, BA.2 quickly overtook omicron, but that hasn’t happened in the United States, as the original strain of omicron continues to cause most infections.
Some models estimate as many as 40 percent of Americans already have immunity against omicron, which protects them against BA.2. But, like the original strain of omicron, BA.2 can escape vaccine protection, although infection from BA.2 does not cause severe disease.
“The bad news is we have had a horrible omicron surge in our country, with millions of people infected. The good news is we had a bad omicron surge in our country with millions of people infected,” said Carlos del Rio, a professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, noting that most Americans have some form of protection against COVID-19, either through shots or prior infection.
