The subvariants of subvariants edition. When the pandemic was declared in March 2020, scientists had one cause for optimism: the COVID-19 virus appeared to mutate slowly. That meant when a vaccine was developed, it might not need regular updating over time.

However, now we are learning that scientists’ early optimism was misplaced. And each major variant that has emerged has proven to be more infectious than its predecessor – a pattern scientists have no reason to believe will end. “This virus has probably got tricks we haven’t seen yet,” Tulane University virologist Robert F. Garry told the Washington Post. “We know it’s probably not quite as infectious as measles yet, but it’s creeping up there, for sure.”

The vaccines currently being injected into the arms of Americans were based on the original strain of COVID-19 that emerged in late 2019 in Wuhan, China. That strain eventually yielded to the more evolutionary successful and more infectious alpha, which in turn yielded to delta, which hit the U.S. hard in the summer of 2021. Delta eventually gave up the stage to omicron variant BA.1, which was 50 percent more transmissible than delta. BA.1 itself has been largely supplanted by BA.2, 30 percent more transmissible than its BA.1 predecessor.

Now there are new variants. BA.2.12.1 is surging through the U.S., particularly in the Northeast, and probably accounts for most of the spike in new cases. It is estimated to be 25 percent more transmissible than BA.2. And South African scientists are studying two variants that are close cousins – BA.4 and BA.5. More transmissible than their predecessors? You guessed it. “The evolution is much more rapid and expansive than we initially estimated,” University of Minnesota infectious disease expert Michael T. Osterholm told the Post. “Every day I wake up, I fear there will be a new subvariant that we have to consider...We’re seeing subvariants of subvariants.”

So: what can we do? The answers are simple. Congress must quickly pass a COVID-19 supplemental funding bill – and then it will need to pass another one later this year. These bills must fund expanded testing in the U.S. Right now, estimates are that new cases are exceeding 50,000 a day, but experts warn this is a gross undercount, because results of home tests largely aren’t reported (to say nothing of people who get sick but aren’t tested at all).

Second, we must fund vaccine research so that newly developed vaccines are flexible enough to handle the newest subvariants. Research takes dollars; Congress must provide them. Third, we must understand that the pandemic does not end until it ends everywhere. Because of that, we must invest billions in making sure vaccines are available and accessible throughout the world. We’re not safe until we are all safe.

Congress must act. It is past time.

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