Enlarge / An individual holds a constructive SARS-CoV-2 speedy check on February 17, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. (credit score: Getty | Thomas Trutschel)

Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1 has overtaken BA.2 because the dominant model of the pandemic coronavirus within the US, now accounting for an estimated 59 % of instances nationwide. However BA.2.12.1’s reign could finish as rapidly because it started, with yet one more batch of omicron subvariants gaining floor—BA.four and BA.5—and threatening to trigger extra breakthrough infections.

BA.2.12.1 has a transmission benefit over BA.2, which itself has an edge over the preliminary omicron subvariant, BA.1, that prompted a towering surge of US instances in mid-January. BA.2 peaked in mid-April, accounting for 76 % of US instances at its peak. However then got here BA.2.12.1, which is called for being the 12th lineage stemming from BA.2 and the primary department of that BA.2.12 lineage.

When BA.2 peaked in mid-April, BA.2.12.1 accounted for about 18 % of instances. It reached about 43 % prevalence by mid-Might and has since overtaken BA.2, which at present accounts for less than about 35 % of instances. BA.2.12.1 is dominant in each area of the nation, aside from the Northwest, in accordance with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.