--- title: Omicron Subvariant BA.5 Will Be Tricky to Get Under Control description: The power of BA.5 is its ability to infect, and reinfect, almost anyone. It can evade people’s built-up immunity, whether from vaccination or previous infection. canonical: https://time.com/6193890/ba-5-omicron-dominant/ author: Kyla Mandel article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-07-05T21:16:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T14:27:54.657Z article:section: Health og:title: BA.5 Is Spreading Rapidly in the U.S.—and It Will Be Tricky to Control og:description: The latest Omicron subvariant is now the dominant strain in the U.S. og:url: https://time.com/6193890/ba-5-omicron-dominant/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf32618b68aee0bef/698a3368457a52ed1fd66972/omicron-ba4-ba5-covid-variant-new-wave.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Covid Cases Rise Again In Northeast og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: BA.5 Is Spreading Rapidly in the U.S.—and It Will Be Tricky to Control twitter:description: The latest Omicron subvariant is now the dominant strain in the U.S. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf32618b68aee0bef/698a3368457a52ed1fd66972/omicron-ba4-ba5-covid-variant-new-wave.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Now That BA.5 Is Dominant, Stopping It Will Be Difficult > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=366fd7b8-7d0b-401e-bbe0-8fd6d9e7412d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | Subscribers | Open rate | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | 540,000 | 45.6% | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | 430,000 | 50.7% | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Daily | 240,000 | 54.1% | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Tuesday and Saturday (2x per week) | 40,000 | 31.7% | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | 85,000 | 37.0% | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | 40,000 | 34.2% | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | 25,000 | 28.6% | Source: TIME, August 2026. Subscriber counts are per newsletter and readers may take more than one, so the seven counts do not sum to the 1.1 million+ unique newsletter audience. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Highest open rate | 54.1%, Health Matters | TIME, August 2026 | | Largest list | 540,000, The Brief | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=366fd7b8-7d0b-401e-bbe0-8fd6d9e7412d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=366fd7b8-7d0b-401e-bbe0-8fd6d9e7412d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (daily health), Worth Your Time (culture, twice weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Kyla Mandel](https://time.com/author/kyla-mandel/)  ## Kyla Mandel Mandel is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 5, 2022 9:16 PM UTC  A Covid-19 testing site stands on a Brooklyn street corner on April 18, 2022 in New York City. A Covid-19 testing site stands on a Brooklyn street corner on April 18, 2022 in New York City. Spencer Platt—Getty Images  by [Kyla Mandel](https://time.com/author/kyla-mandel/)  ## Kyla Mandel Mandel is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 5, 2022 9:16 PM UTC Around the world, the latest Omicron subvariant, [BA.5](https://time.com/6187762/ba-4-ba-5-omicron-subvariants-symptoms-risk/), is quickly becoming the dominant strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It just took the top spot in the U.S.: As of the last week of June, BA.5 made up [more than half](https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions) of all new COVID-19 cases, according to new estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That’s up 10 percentage points compared to the prior week. For several reasons—including a lack of protective mandates and mutations in the virus—BA.5 may now be tricky to get under control. The power of BA.5 (and its sibling [BA.4](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/why-omicron-variants-ba4-and-ba5-are-causing-fresh-us-outbreaks), which makes up about 16% of new U.S. cases, has the same spike protein mutation as BA.5, but doesn’t seem to spread as quickly) is its ability to infect, and reinfect, almost anyone. This highly contagious strain can evade people’s built-up immunity, whether from vaccination or previous infection. As [_Nature_](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01730-y) reports, lab studies show that even people who have so-called “hybrid immunity” from vaccination and a past infection with the Omicron BA.1 strain are less able to ward off reinfection from either the BA.4 or BA.5 strains. Experts believe this is due largely to changes in the virus’ spike proteins. Current COVID-19 vaccines and boosters target the original strain of the virus rather than any of the variants, so being vaccinated doesn’t offer as much protection as it once did against infection. (Luckily, the [vaccines still confer broad protection](https://time.com/6192941/young-kids-covid-19-vaccine/) against the worst outcomes of the disease.) Since BA.4 and BA.5 have taken over, “we have seen some cases of reinfection,” Dr. Wesley Long, an experimental pathologist at Houston Methodist Hospital, [told CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/22/health/ba4-ba5-escape-antibodies-covid-vaccine/index.html), “and I have seen some cases of reinfection with people who had a BA.2 variant in the last few months.” Combine the virus’ greater transmissibility and more immune evasion with fewer protective mandates across the country, and the threat of infection is high. Conditions are also ripe for new variants to emerge, since the risk of mutations increases the more the virus spreads. On top of this, [recent research](https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/05/health/covid-reinfection-risk/index.html) (which has yet to be peer reviewed) found that people who had been reinfected with COVID-19 had a higher risk of hospitalization and death than people who had just been infected once. They were also more likely to develop new and lasting health issues, including lung and heart problems, fatigue, digestive and kidney disorders, diabetes, and neurologic problems. Vaccine manufacturers are trying to keep up with the virus. On June 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) [said](https://time.com/6193249/tweaked-covid-19-boosters-in-u-s-must-target-newer-omicron-types/) that new booster shots for the fall [must target BA.4 and BA.5](https://time.com/6192092/new-covid-19-booster-omicron/). But while companies are developing new vaccines to specifically address Omicron, it’s still unclear how effective they will be in tackling the more recent subvariants, or, if the virus keeps evolving so rapidly, whether anything developed now will be outdated by the time it’s available. The hopeful news is that from what [experts](https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55659820) can tell so far, the BA.5 variant [isn’t causing](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/05/new-covid-variants-ba4-ba5-most-contagious-australia-third-omicron-wave-coronavirus-subvariants-ba-4-5) a more severe form of infection (although scientists are still gathering more data on this), the reported symptoms haven’t changed much, and death and hospitalization rates in the U.S. are lower than they were during the winter Omicron wave. (This could change, however, as there appears to be a slight recent uptick in hospitalizations, [according to the CDC](https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#new-hospital-admissions).) In the meantime, experts [recommend](https://twitter.com/Bob%5FWachter/status/1543780619921924096) that people over 50 not delay getting their boosters, since the risk of infection right now is high. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6193890/ba-5-omicron-dominant/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6193890/ba-5-omicron-dominant/"},"headline":"Now That BA.5 Is Dominant, Stopping It Will Be Difficult","datePublished":"2022-07-05T21:16:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:27:54.657Z","description":"The latest Omicron subvariant is now the dominant strain in the U.S.","url":"https://time.com/6193890/ba-5-omicron-dominant/","keywords":["COVID-19","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf32618b68aee0bef/698a3368457a52ed1fd66972/omicron-ba4-ba5-covid-variant-new-wave.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kyla Mandel","jobTitle":"Mandel is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/kyla-mandel/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf32618b68aee0bef/698a3368457a52ed1fd66972/omicron-ba4-ba5-covid-variant-new-wave.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Covid Cases Rise Again In Northeast","caption":"Covid Cases Rise Again In Northeast","creditText":"Spencer Platt—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/covid-19/","name":"COVID-19"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6193890/ba-5-omicron-dominant/","name":"Now That BA.5 Is Dominant, Stopping It Will Be Difficult"}}]}] ```