A series of Covid strains have began to spread across Europe, Australia and China as the "variant soup" has cases on the rise.
Health experts have warned that Omicron's "grandchildren" are now beginning to fill the gaps where the previous variant once took hold, reports the Express. One health specialist has raised fears as the UK has seen Covid cases rise late on in 2022.
Dr Paul Griffin, an Australian infectious disease specialist, has said that the world must now tackle the various branches off Omicron, as Covid continues to remain present in most countries. Speaking to morning show Sunrise, he warned people to take their updated vaccines as a series of new variants surge across the planet.
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Paul named several variants that he is "watching closely", including the emerging strains named XBB and BQ. Dr Griffin explained that these two variants are among Omicron's "most concerning" offspring in circulation right now.
He said: "Some have described it as a ‘variant soup’, because there are so many new ones at the moment.
"Perhaps the two most concerning are BQ which is an offshoot of BA.5, which has been detected mainly in Europe and the US, and around 10 per cent of cases globally.
"And the other is XBB which has been causing problems in Singapore and India."
Other experts believe Omicron - also known as BA.5 - has successfully reproduced hundreds of times over. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified more than 300 Covid "sublineages", 95 percent of which come from the variant.
Other concerning variants include BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, which have replaced Omicron largely since summer this year. The two have evolved resistance to immune system defences that make them harder for the body to recognise and neutralise.
The mutations of their genetics allow them to avoid immunity from both the vaccine and previous infections. Evidence from areas with high infection rates of both suggest that they aren't as dangerous as their ancestor, Omicron.
Genomics expert Dr Eric Topol, who directs the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California, said outbreaks in France have not produced high rates of death nor hospitalisations. And the UK is yet to see any significant fall out from the new variants, as cases continue to fall.
Over the last week, officials have detected 32,236 new cases, down 15,231 on the previous, with deaths down 24 per cent (245) in the same period.
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