A new study shows that BA.4s and BA.5s discovered in South Africa can “escape” vaccines and past infection antibodies.

Two new coronavirus strains have arrived in the United States that look to be even more contagious than “stealth Omicron” and have the ability to “escape” the antibodies induced by vaccination and previous infection – potentially signaling the start of a new wave.

South Africa gave birth to the BA.4 and BA.5 subtypes, as well as the original Omicron, BA.1. According to Bloomberg, despite the fact that practically all South Africans have been vaccinated or have been ill, the number of cases is steadily increasing. The National Institute of Communicable Diseases in the United States recorded nearly 4,000 new infections just on Sunday. Covid was found in 22 percent of those who were tested.

If those who have been both vaccinated against COVID and infected with Omicron contract the subvariants, they may become ill. However, a leading COVID researcher from South Africa told Fortune that they are unlikely to require hospitalization or die.

“If you were vaccinated and had Omicron, your protection is decent, at least against severe disease,” says professor Alex Sigal, co-author of a new study published in MedRxiv, which found that BA.4 and BA.5 could lead to a new wave of infection due to their ability to “escape” the antibodies, both from the vaccine and from a previous infection.

The issue in the United States is that immunization rates are not as high as they may be. According to the CDC, around 66.2 percent of the overall population has been fully vaccinated, with only 45.8 percent having gotten a booster dose. The vaccine is still not available to children under the age of five.

Those who were infected with Covid before the onset of Omicron are less likely to be immune to BA.4 and BA.5., according to Sigal. Those who have been infected with Omicron but have not been vaccinated will have little immunity.

Bloomberg reported on Thursday that strains BA.4 and BA.5 looked to be more contagious than strain BA.2, also known as “stealth Omicron,” which was more contagious than the initial strain, citing a South African expert on Covid. and head of institutions at KwaZulu-Natal and Stellenbosch universities.

Fortune reported on Friday that both variants of the flu virus had already arrived in the United States, citing numerous experts with access to GISAID, an international scientific database that analyzes changes in Covid and the flu virus. In the United States, the first sample of BA.4 was taken on March 30, whereas BA.5 was taken one day earlier, on March 29.

Given the increased transmissibility of the mutations and their capacity to escape immunization, the formation of a new BA.4 / BA.5 wave is “a strong possibility,” according to Sigal and his colleagues.

However, because Omicron has infected so many people over the world, Sigal does not predict a massive outbreak. He also does not foresee “a very severe wave in terms of disease severity,” given the protection conferred by vaccine and/or past Omicron infection, albeit at a decreased level.

Sigal and his colleagues investigated for novel subtypes in blood samples from those who had been infected with BA.1 and had been vaccinated with Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson, as well as people who had previously been infected with BA.1 but had not been vaccinated.

When exposed to the new subtypes, those who had previously been infected but had not been vaccinated experienced a roughly eight-fold decline in neutralizing antibodies. According to the study, those who had previously been infected and had been vaccinated experienced a lesser threefold drop.

Sigal said he wasn’t expecting BA.4 and BA.5 to be immune so quickly, especially since the variants are very identical to the original Omicron strain.

So far, the new types’ symptoms appear to be relatively similar to those of Omicron, which include fever, loss of smell, and fatigue.

“I haven’t seen early symptoms of respiratory distress, the major COVID-specific symptom that makes this disease so dangerous,” he said, adding that with these data “but there’s less chance of dying.”

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