Maryland Department of Health officials said you should get vaccinated.
Baltimore, Md. (NS) – There is a new version of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Maryland called BA.2, and Dr. Clifford Mitchell with the Maryland Department of Health said you should continue to take steps to prevent infection.
“From the data that we’ve been looking at, we continue to stress that this vaccine, and being up to date with vaccines, meaning that you’ve had the original series and then a booster when it’s time, continues to protect you against Omicron, both the BA.1 and the BA.2,” said Dr. Mitchell.
He added that BA.2 is not the only variant of COVID still around.
“Most of the cases that are out there that are being sequenced are stil Omicron BA.1, there are still some Delta that are out there, and as of a day or so ago, we had only about 145 cases of the BA.2,” he said.
BA.2 cases are rising in the state, but very slowly.
Dr. Mitchell said vaccines are still the best form of protection from COVID.