A South African research discovered that new omicron sub-lineages had the ability to avoid antibodies from previous infection and immunization.
The discoveries could suggest a new round of outbreaks caused by the omicron variant's BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages, which were detected this month in South Africa.
The research, led by the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa, found those blood specimens from individuals who had been exposed to the main omicron variation had a nearly eightfold decline in negating antibody formation when examined against the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages.
Samples from individuals who had been vaccinated indicated a threefold reduction, the research showed.
"The relatively low reduction rates for BA.4 and BA.5, notably in the unvaccinated group, are incapable of protecting well enough against symptomatic infection," the researchers said in the unpublished report.
Based on eradication escape, this could suggest that BA.4 and BA.5 have the ability to cause a fresh infection outbreak, the researchers said.
The experiment's findings coincide with a new outbreak of illnesses in South Africa, which was the first country to have a spike of omicron-related cases when the variant was discovered in the country and nearby Botswana.
On Saturday, 6,527 new cases were reported in South Africa, with a 21.5% test positivity rate. On March 28, there were 581 cases with a 4.5% positivity rate.
Waasila Jassat, a community health specialist at South Africa's National Institute of Infectious Diseases, said that while hospitalizations are steadily increasing, there has been no apparent rise in deaths.
The researchers used specimens from 24 individuals who had been exposed to the original omicron strain but had not been immunized.
It also compared the sub-lineages to specimens from 15 patients who had been vaccinated, eight of whom had gotten vaccinations from Pfizer Inc. and seven from Johnson & Johnson.
The Africa Health Research Institute's facility in Durban, run by Alex Sigal, was the earliest to test the original omicron variation against blood samples, revealing that Pfizer's dose was less efficient than prior forms.
South Africa is the worst-affected country in Africa, with over 100,000 reported deaths from COVID-19, and three times that number if extra death data is included.
Despite this, most African countries have insufficient healthcare systems that are unable to identify the majority of diseases or appropriately identify death factors.
Authorities and researchers in South Africa said on Friday that the country may be entering a fifth COVID wave sooner than predicted.
