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Last week, BA.2 became dominant in the U.S. and on track to displace the earlier version of Omicron, BA.1.
The contagious BA.2 sub-variant makes up 72.2% of all the COVID variants in the country as of April 2, up from almost 57.3% the last week, CDC data shows.
British public health authority estimates BA.2 spreads 30% to 80% faster than BA.1.
World Health Organization data shows the new sub-variant now makes up about 86% of all sequenced cases globally.
BA.2 sub-variant usually does not make people sicker compared to the earlier version of Omicron, and the vaccines have the same level of effectiveness against it, CNBC reported citing studies from South Africa and Qatar.
However, in general, Omicron is adept at evading the protective antibodies generated by the vaccines and causing breakthrough infections that generally cause mild illness.
Lowering COVID cases
As of April 1, the seven-day moving average of COVID cases in the U.S. was 26,106, marginally lower than 26,309 from a week earlier, as per CDC data.
New infections and hospital admissions in the country have declined more than 90% since January, when the Omicron wave peaked.
COVID hospitalization rate on Monday touched the lowest level since 2020, with the average number of people admitted to hospital was 11,000, according to data from the federal Health and Human Services Department.