Good natural immunity data

Evidence omicron is generating natural immunity.

Sequenced, 10 July 2022 to 17 July 2022

BA.2 3.4% (0.6% to 8.6%)

BA.4 17.2% (12.8%)

BA.5 78.7% (77.9%)

Others 0.7%

Newly designated variant, BA.2.75

Identified as part of horizon scanning on 4 July 2022

BA.2.75 is a sub-lineage of BA.2

8 additional mutations from BA.2

24 cases with BA.2.75 in the UK

It has also been identified in multiple other countries in low numbers.

Protection of SARS-CoV-2 natural infection against reinfection with the Omicron BA.4 or BA.5 subvariants

All Qatar’s COVID-19 cases since start of BA.4 / BA.5 wave

Study estimates the effectiveness of previous infection in preventing reinfection with Omicron BA.4/BA.5

S-gene target failure proxy for BA.4/BA.5 infections

Effectiveness of a previous pre-Omicron infection against symptomatic BA.4/BA.5 reinfection

15.1% against symptomatic reinfection

28.3% against any BA.4/BA.5 reinfection

Effectiveness of a previous Omicron infection against symptomatic BA.4/BA.5 reinfection

76.1% against symptomatic reinfection

79.7% against any BA.4/BA.5 reinfection

Prior Omicron infection protects against BA.4 and BA.5

Alex Sigal, virologist, Africa Health Research Institute, Durban

The time that has passed since your original infection is much shorter with Omicron, so it’s really not a fair comparison

UK Health Security Agency 15% of people in England have never had Covid

About 15% of people in England have never had Covid

this minority group still accounts for 55% of infections

45% of cases are now reinfections

the lowest it has been since the start of the pandemic,

UKHSA estimated more than 10 million people had still never been infected

First-time infections

More likely to be symptomatic

Fewer subsequent infections identified

Many people are being reinfected but not noticing

So % of reinfections may actually be more than 45%

NZ

Population 5.1 million

Deaths official coded as due to covid = 874

Covid coded as contributing to a death = 475