So yeah, about this new COVID sub variant, it's called a BA2.

Right now, BA2 is becoming the majority of the virus population in the US.

What that means is that we're going to see a bump in infections.

Bill Hanage is an epidemiologist and a professor at Harvard.

BA2 is why case rates are inching back up in places like LA, and Chicago over 20% of the

cases in Midwestern states and Boston.

BA2 is now causing more than half of new cases in the Northeast, including here in Massachusetts.

The expectation from public health officials is just like in many European countries,

BA2 will soon become the dominant variant here.

But right now, it doesn't look like BA2 is much more serious in terms of the disease

of causes.

Of course, protection from that disease depends on prior infection, vaccination, or both.

The thing is, protection, it wanes over time.

So, on Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized use of a second booster dose of

Pfizer and Moderna for any American over the age of 50, or for certain people who are immunocompromised.

That fourth dose, it can be given four months after an initial booster.

However, if the science shows that fourth doses are needed for the general population later this year,

we will not have the supply necessary to ensure sorts are available, free and easy,

to access for all Americans.

That's Jeff Zines at the White House COVID Task Force.

He issued a warning this past week.

We should be securing additional supply right now.

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