Can Omicron BF.7 variant cause severe Covid-19 disease? Here's what we know so far

The current unprecedented coronavirus surge in China and rising cases in many other countries have raised fears of a new global wave of the pandemic. The BF.7 subvariant of Omicron is believed to be behind the latest outbreaks. The resurgence of Covid-19 has sparked concerns in India. 

The Omicron BF.7 variant has been in India for a while but has not had the disastrous effect as seen in China. India has reported four cases of the variant so far. While the government has stepped up its defence mechanism, the common public has several questions around what this could mean for India. There are fears regarding a major wave with the memories from the devastating second Covid-19 wave fuelled by Delta variant still fresh. 

One of the biggest questions is whether an infection from the Omicron BF.7 variant can cause severe disease in a Covid-19 patient, as seen with the Delta variant. Here’s what country's top expert has assessed as per indications so far. 

Can Omicron BF.7 variant lead to severe Covid-19 disease? 

The BF.7 sub-variant is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant BA.5. National IMA Covid taskforce co-chairman Dr Rajeev Jayadevan has called BF.7 the ‘great-grandson of Omicron’. It is essentially the same as Omicron with some additional mutations. There is no indication until now that BF.7 can cause more severe disease, the top medical expert said. He reiterates what other experts have said, that there is no need to panic in India for now.

“BF.7 is a great-grandson of Omicron, which has a greater ability to infect previously infected or vaccinated people than the original Omicron. This property is called immune evasiveness. It essentially is the same virus as Omicron, but with additional mutations... There is no indication that it causes more severe disease,” Dr Jayadevan was quoted as saying by IANS.

"A few months ago, when BF.7 was first reported, scientists were initially excited about it because it appeared simultaneously in several countries at once. It was found especially in Belgium and also in Denmark, Germany, and France. Naturally, there were initial concerns that it would outgrow its siblings. That did not happen. For example, in the US, BF.7 currently forms only 3.9 per cent of the circulating variants. That is possibly because it was outclassed by newer and more capable versions of Omicron such as BQ.1, BQ.1.1 and XBB afterwards," he added.

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