Expert: there could be more coronavirus strains

There could be more new variants of coronavirus, said a leading part-time pediatric infectious disease expert at Kazakh Health Ministry Dinagul Bayesheva. The mutations are part and parcel of the life process of all microorganisms, she added. The flu, for example, behaves in the same way. The doctor urged everyone who has no contraindications to get vaccinated. Especially the category of the population who have chronic diseases. Three types of vaccines are now available in Kazakhstan, including QazVac, Sinopharm and Pfizer. The BA.5 Omicron subvariant is spreading intensively in the country today. It is mild but highly contagious. Its symptoms are similar to cold: sore throat, nausea, weakness and fever.

“There are more and more new strains, for example, the ‘Stealth’ omicron, BA4 and BA5, AB1 and AB2 subvariants, Centaurus. There will be more in the future. If you get vaccinated, can you get sick? Yes, you might get sick. Because you might face a different strain than that with which you were vaccinated. Nevertheless, antibodies remain in the organism, which is able to fight with the genus of coronaviruses as a whole,” said Dinagul Bayesheva, a leading part-time pediatric infectious disease expert, Kazakh Health Ministry.