HCMC – Vietnam has reported another form of the Omicron subvariant BA.2, called BA.2.12.1, following the genome sequencing of 30 samples at the Pasteur Institute in HCMC last week, according to data released at a virtual meeting on epidemic control and prevention yesterday (July 21).

The BA.2 subvariant accounts for some 30% of the samples. The BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants are responsible for the rest, said Nguyen Vu Thuong, deputy head of the HCMC Pasteur Institute. He added that BA.2 was the dominant strain in the southern localities in the previous weeks. However, the recent weeks saw an outbreak linked to the Delta variant that has sent new infections rising. According to health experts at the meeting, the country has reported around 900 new daily cases on average over the past few days. On July 20 alone, 1,185 new infections were recorded nationwide. Therefore, the health system should stay alert on possible new outbreaks, as several people have let their guard down after getting vaccinated or being infected with Covid.