# This Latest Covid Variant Could Be the Best Yet at Evading Immunity  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Washington Post]] - Full Title:: This Latest Covid Variant Could Be the Best Yet at Evading Immunity - Category: #articles - URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/08/25/covid-variant-ba-2-86-pirola/ ## Highlights > A highly mutated form of the coronavirus that threatens to be the most adept yet at slipping past the body’s immune defenses is capturing the attention of virologists and health officials. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h8s3d8dytsg7k3cxwx2rw7n5)) > The latest variant does not appear to make people sicker than earlier iterations of the virus; antiviral treatments should still work against it and tests should still detect it ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h8s3eamyv4nswhtnz4cwetrw)) > omicron variant spawned a slew of immune-evading descendants ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h8s3ez03yvhe522bnfb88748)) > It has more than 30 mutations on its [spike protein](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/health/coronavirus-sars-cov-2-structure/?itid=lk_inline_manual_12), the part of the virus that pierces through the cell and that vaccines train the body to fend off ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h8s3fpzktjaan8nf4ercqxbp)) > The biggest unknown is whether the BA.2.86 will be transmissible enough to cause a surge. A variant adept at evading immunity would not take off in a population if it does not spread efficiently and multiply. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h8s3heyje7f3c6yrghehv4jt)) > Finding BA.2.86 in yet an additional country — now in wastewater rather than a patient — is another piece of evidence that BA.2.86 is globally widespread by now,” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h8s3jfs204v9gcjekvaawk9e)) > Nearly all the U.S. population has antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 from vaccination, previous infection, or both, and it is probable that these antibodies will continue to provide some protection against severe disease from this variant,” the CDC said in its [risk assessment](https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/whats-new/covid-19-variant.html) of BA.2.86 this week. “This is an area of ongoing scientific investigation.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h8s3ke3a4tvgwqha1jgjv2tv)) > For now, experts say the rise of BA.2.86 is more of a subject for scientific scrutiny than public panic. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h8s3mmjh4c2bry4p8xkj2wa6))