The BA.2 variant now makes up about 35% of all COVID-19 cases in the United States, a majority of which are found on the East Coast, but may soon spread across the nation.
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Dr. Jeremy Faust, emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an instructor at Harvard Medical School, told KCBS Radio's "Ask An Expert" health experts are worried some people are not prepared for the new variant.
"This variant, we're learning a lot about it. We're seeing how similar it is to omicron that we saw in January and February. Certainly there are many similarities, but I think that the big concern is that there is this sort of cyclic nature; we become very vigilant and then we get through a wave and let our guard down," he said.
Driving much of he and his colleagues' concern is that there could be something coming, but "no one seems to be in the mood to do anything about it," Faust added.
He warned that BA.2 poses a risk for those who have not been recently protected against COVID-19, including individuals who have received a booster. "One of the things that will get you infected is not having protection," he explained. "Either you haven't been vaccinated or boosted recently or you had an infection a while ago. For people who were extremely vigilant and got boosted in the fall and haven't been infected, now they come out of the most protective phase and are at risk."
However, many people with a BA.2 infection are experiencing mild symptoms as the variant is more contagious, but less virulent than omicron.
For those anxious to get a fourth vaccine dose to avoid BA.2, Faust advised that it is important to wait for FDA approval.
"There are very specific populations that need a fourth dose. People who are immunocompromised, such that they have genuine laboratory evidence that they don't mount a response, will need a fourth dose. The rest of us probably will be fine," he said.
Faust predicted that an FDA meeting to discuss the possibility of a fourth booster will be held in April.
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