Omicron arrived first, followed by its extremely contagious subvariant, BA.2.
That subvariant spawned its own subvariants, which are becoming more prevalent in the United States. The coronavirus is always changing. While some variations appear to be disappearing, others continue to cause significant outbreaks.
According to experts, a new strain, BA.2.12.1, is fast spreading and will likely become the prevalent form of the virus in the United States in the coming weeks. There is currently no evidence that this causes more severe disease.
According to the US CDC, BA.2.12.1 accounted for around 265 of all new cases in the United States in the week ending Saturday. This is up from 26% the week before and 16% of infections in the second week of April. BA.2.12.1, which New York state health officials initially discovered in April, is spreading faster than previous forms of the Omicron variety, which caused a massive spike in cases throughout the winter.
