Covid XBB variant can evade immunity better than others, Chula lecturer warns
The Covid-19 variant “XBB” can evade immunity better than other variants, Chulalongkorn University Faculty of Medicine lecturer Thira Woratanarat warned on Facebook on Wednesday.
Thira cited the study “Imprinted SARS-CoV-2 humoral immunity induces convergent Omicron RBD evolution” by Chinese researchers from Peking University.
According to the study, XBB originates from the BA.2 subvariant, which can resist immunity better than other subvariants.
The XBB variant should therefore be monitored, Thira advised.
He speculated that daily Covid-19 infections in Thailand could be around 20,000 cases.
Meanwhile, daily deaths connected to the virus are 10 on average, which places Thailand 15 highest in the world and number 10 in Asia.
He advised everyone to keep protecting themselves and wear face masks "properly" to reduce risks.
Thira noted that the number of cases in several European countries is rising, while those on other continents are stable but might also increase in a couple of months.
In contrast, he said the number in Asia is falling, except in Singapore where it is increasing.
