The public must continue to be vigilant regarding the pandemic because COVID-19 is not going away soon. We will be dealing with COVID-19 forever, much like influenza. There have been new variants of the original virus, such as Delta and Omicron and we are continuously seeing new ones emerge, such as BA.4 and BA.5 – subvariants of Omicron. The BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants do not cause a more severe infection than the original Omicron strain but are more contagious. These subvariants were first detected in South Africa late last year and have now been detected in more than a dozen countries. These new highly contagious subvariants may soon overtake BA.2 to become the dominant strains worldwide. Recent studies have shown they are immuno-evasive, meaning they can avoid natural immunity produced by previous COVID infections and vaccinations. Read on to find out more—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had COVID . 1