JUNE 30: Sixteen teams - including debutants Northern Ireland and holders the Netherlands - will compete, with the final to be played at an 87,200 sell-out Wembley on 31 July.
More than 450,000 tickets for the tournament, which is being staged at 10 different venues across the country, have been sold so far.
It is the second time the whole tournament has been held in England.
Back in 2005, just eight countries took part as Germany defeated Norway 3-1 in the final in front of 21,105 at Blackburn's Ewood Park.
Seventeen years on, Uefa has labelled the 13th edition as the "biggest ever".
Despite qualifying, Russia have been barred from this summer's competition because of the country's invasion of Ukraine. Their place has been taken by Portugal.
The tournament is expected to deliver £54m in economic activity to the host towns and cities: Manchester, Southampton, Brighton, Milton Keynes, London, Leigh, Sheffield and Rotherham.
Almost 100,000 international fans are expected to attend matches while a global television audience of 250 million-plus is expected to watch Euro 2022.
This will be the first time that Video Assistant Referee technology has been used at a Women's European Championship.
First Women's Euros for five years
The Women's Euros is usually held every four years and, after the Netherlands won it in 2017, it should have taken place in 2021.
It was pushed back 12 months after the men's 2020 European Championship and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were both postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Moving the Euros to 2022 avoided two women's tournaments in the same summer, with Sweden losing on penalties to Canada in the gold medal match in Tokyo 12 months ago.
England were named hosts in 2018. When England previously staged the tournament in 2005, venues across the North West - Blackpool, Manchester, Blackburn, Warrington and Preston - were used.
This time games are being staged across the country although no venues in the Midlands or North East will host games.
The decision to use the Manchester City Academy Stadium - which will have a reduced capacity of just 4,700 for the Euros - has been criticised.
"It's embarrassing," said Iceland midfielder Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir, whose side play two of their three group games at the home of Manchester City's women's team.
"It's disrespectful towards women's football because it's so much bigger than people think."
Low-priced tickets and record crowds
Uefa have made 700,000-plus tickets available. A pre-tournament impact report projected between 435,000 and 525,000 will be sold.
The previous edition staged in the Netherlands was watched by 240,045 fans.
Ticket prices have been kept low to attract families. They range from £5 to £50 meaning a family of four can watch a match for as little as £30.
"We want as many full stadia and as many spectators in the stadiums as possible," the head of tournament delivery, Chris Bryant, said.
There is pressure on the organisers to deliver an event that draws fans in beyond the Euros.
"We are confident that many matches will be sold out and are looking forward to more than doubling the total attendance of Uefa Women's Euro 2017 in the Netherlands," said a Euro 2022 spokesperson.
Which countries are taking part - and who are the big hitters?
This is the second time the tournament has featured 16 teams.
Only four countries took part in each of the first six editions before it was expanded to eight teams in 1997. By 2009 it was up to 12 and and then 16 in 2017.
Norway and Italy are taking part for the 12th time - no other countries have played in more.
Only four different countries have won the Women's Euros.
Germany are by far the most successful side in the tournament's history with eight triumphs, including six in a row between 1995 and 2013. The other winners are Norway (1987, 1993), Sweden (1984) and the Netherlands (2017).
Six of the world's top 10 are taking part: Sweden (2nd Fifa's rankings), France (3rd), Netherlands (4th), Germany (5th), Spain (7th) and England (8th).
The 16 teams are divided into four groups of four. The top two go through to the quarter-finals, where it becomes a straight knockout.
England boss Sarina Wiegman led her native country, the Netherlands, to European glory five years ago, and the Lionesses are among the favourites this year.
Other teams expected to do well include Spain, 2019 World Cup finalists the Netherlands and Sweden, who have reached the final four times.
France's squad includes several members of the Lyon side that won the Champions League in May.
Group A: England, Austria, Norway, Northern Ireland. Venues: Manchester (Old Trafford), Southampton, Brighton.
Group B: Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland. Venues: Milton Keynes, Brentford.
Group C: Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal. Venues: Leigh, Sheffield (Bramall Lane).
Group D: France, Italy, Belgium, Iceland. Venues: Manchester (Academy Stadium), Rotherham.
Five players to look out for
Alexia Putellas (Spain): Ballon d'Or-winning midfielder. Best Fifa Women's player. Uefa Player of the Year. Running games from midfield, Putellas is the heartbeat of Spain's team.
Ada Hegerberg (Norway): Quit the national team in 2017 in protest at a perceived lack of respect for female players, but the inaugural Ballon d'Or winner returned to the international scene in April and is looking to make her mark at Euro 2022.
Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands): The Arsenal striker is at the top of her game and is hoping to add another European title to her CV after helping the Netherlands win Euro 2017.
Pernille Harder (Denmark): The Chelsea midfielder is Denmark's all-time leading scorer and captained them to the Euro 2017 final.
Lauren Hemp (England): The Manchester City winger, 21, who was named the Women's Super League's young player of the year for a record-breaking fourth season in a row, has been on-fire for club and country, winning many plaudits for her eye-catching runs and goals.
Will England deliver?
There is pressure on the Lionesses to deliver a first European crown in front of their own fans.
They have twice come close before, finishing runners-up to Sweden in the inaugural Women's Euros in 1984 before getting to the final again in 2009 only to lose to Germany in Finland.
Since Wiegman became manager in September 2021, England are unbeaten in 12 matches and in February won the inaugural Arnold Clark Cup - a competition that featured Olympic champions Canada, Spain and two-time world champions Germany.
Arsenal's Leah Williamson will captain the Lionesses.
"This is going to be the biggest women's event in Europe ever," Wiegman told BBC Sport.
"It's going to be really exciting but it can also cause a little stress. There are going to be expectations but we have to embrace it.
"This is a chance to make everyone proud."
Will Northern Ireland shine?
Euro 2022 marks a huge moment in the history of women's football in Northern Ireland. The national team only reformed in 2004 after being disbanded at the turn of the century.
Whatever happens this month, Northern Ireland have already defied the odds to reach one of the biggest stages in the sport as a team largely made up of part-time players.
In preparation for Euro 2022, 22 domestic-based players entered a seven-month full-time professional programme.
Kenny Shiels' side are the lowest-ranked team in the competition - 47th in the world.
In April, Shiels said "women are more emotional than men" when discussing his side's 5-0 defeat by England in a World Cup qualifier.
His remarks drew criticism and Shiels apologised saying: "I am proud to manage a group of players who are role models for so many girls, and boys, across the country."
With inputs from BBC
JUNE 28: Less than three years ago, France's President Macron declared Nato to be "brain dead". Yet from the moment Russian tanks rolled across the border into Ukraine, the Western response has been remarkable for its unity, speed and vigour. It has been reinvigorated with renewed purpose - strengthening borders and supplying weapons.
On the eve of the summit in Madrid, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced what he called "a fundamental shift in the alliance's deterrence and defence", strengthening its defences on its eastern borders and raising its rapid response force to more than 300,000 troops.
The alliance faces numerous challenges, from hybrid warfare to the destabilisation of the Balkans to cyber attacks, the militarisation of space and what to do about China's growing military power. For the first time, this Nato summit will address what it calls "the challenges that Beijing poses to our security, interests and values", Mr Stoltenberg said. Here are some of the most pressing issues likely to be on the table this week.
1. Avoiding escalation in Ukraine war
Nato faces a balancing act. The world's most powerful military alliance, comprising 30 member states, three of them with nuclear weapons (US, UK and France), does not want to go to war with Russia. President Putin has repeatedly reminded the West he has a massive nuclear arsenal and even a low-level cross-border clash could quickly escalate out of control.
So the biggest challenge for the last four months has been, and remains now, how to help Ukraine defend itself against this unprovoked invasion without getting drawn into the fighting itself.
Early Western inhibitions about not upsetting Moscow by sending heavy weapons to Kyiv have been swept aside as gruesome details of alleged Russian war crimes and atrocities have emerged, backed up by satellite data.
The Madrid summit will need to set out the extent of military help Nato countries can provide and for how much longer.
For now, Moscow is winning in the Donbas, the largely Russian-speaking region of eastern Ukraine, albeit at massive cost in lives and material damage. Expectations are Russia will try to hang on to these territorial gains, perhaps annexing them in the same way it did with Crimea in 2014.
In the absence of a peace treaty, Nato will face a new dilemma later. Does it continue to arm the Ukrainians as they try to claw back land Moscow now considers to be legally part of the Russian Federation? The Kremlin has indicated Western weapons striking Russian soil crosses a red line so the risks here of escalation would dramatically increase.
2. Maintaining unity over Ukraine
If Russia had only attacked the Donbas and not invaded the whole of Ukraine on three sides, then it is possible we would not have seen such extraordinary unity in the West's response. Six rounds of EU sanctions are seriously hurting Russia's economy and Germany has cancelled for now the multi-billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would have brought Russian gas to northern Germany.
But there are splits in the Western alliance over how far to punish Russia and how much pain Western economies can take. These will likely come to the surface in Madrid. Germany has been accused of dragging its feet over promised weapons deliveries while Hungary, led by a prime minister with close links to President Putin, has refused to stop buying Russian oil. At the other end of the spectrum those nations feeling most threatened by Moscow, namely Poland and the Baltic states, are pushing for the toughest line possible and more Nato reinforcements on their borders.
3. Securing the Baltics
This region has the potential to be a major flashpoint between Nato and Russia. This month Russia threatened "practical countermeasures" after Lithuania blocked some EU-sanctioned goods travelling across its territory en route to Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.
Estonia's outspoken Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has lambasted Nato for being ill-prepared for a Russian cross-border invasion. The current strategy envisages trying to retake Estonian territory only after Russia has already invaded. "They could wipe us off the map," she says.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were all once - involuntarily - part of the Soviet Union. Today, they are independent nations and all in Nato. There are four multinational battle groups stationed in these three countries, along with Poland, as part of what is called the Enhanced Forward Presence. The UK leads the one in Estonia, the US the one in Poland, Germany in Lithuania and Canada the one in Latvia.
Yet, Nato planners know all too well these battle groups would only be a tripwire against a future Russian invasion. They are too small to prevent a concerted incursion by a reconstituted Russian army. Baltic leaders now want at least a division of Nato forces stationed in each country as a serious deterrent. This is likely to be a hotly-debated topic in Madrid.
4. Allowing Finland and Sweden to join
Finland and Sweden, both seriously rattled by Russia's full-scale invasion of a sovereign nation, have decided they want to ditch their neutrality and join Nato. The alliance is welcoming them with open arms, but it is not quite that simple. Turkey, a member since 1952, has been blocking their addition on the grounds both these Nordic countries harbour Kurdish separatists who Turkey views as terrorists.
But because Finland and Sweden are so important to Nato, every effort will be made to find a way around Turkey's objections. Once they join, the Baltic Sea will effectively become a "Nato lake," bordered by eight member states, with eventually a joined-up air defence and integrated missile system.
Looking further afield, Nato will need to decide if it ever intends to admit new members such as Georgia and Moldova, with all the associated risks of provoking an already-paranoid Kremlin.
5. Urgent rise in defence spending
Currently, Nato members are obliged to spend 2% of their annual GDP on defence, but not all of them do. Recent figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) show while the US spent 3.5% on defence and Britain spent 2.2%, Germany only spent 1.3% while Italy, Canada, Spain and the Netherlands were all falling well short of the 2% target. Russia spent 4.1% of its GDP on defence.
When Donald Trump was US President, he famously threatened to take America out of the alliance if other member states did not pull their weight. This had some effect, but the Ukraine invasion has had more. Just three days after it began, Germany announced it would allocate an additional €100bn on defence and finally raise its quota above 2%. This week, the Nato chief announced that nine of the 30 member states have reached or exceeded the 2% target, while 19 have clear plans to reach it by 2024. The 2% figure, said Jens Stoltenberg, "should be a floor, not a ceiling".
Western military chiefs and analysts are unanimous in calling for an urgent increase in defence spending if Russia is to be deterred from further aggression. But successive defence cuts over recent decades have prompted questions over whether Nato still has sufficient mass to deter a future Russian incursion.
Although UK defence spending was recently boosted, there has also been massive waste in procurement. The current strength of the British Army is 82,000 troops including those in training, but after cuts this is due to fall to 72,500. More worryingly still, both Russia and China are ahead of the West in developing hypersonic missiles that can travel towards their target at more than five times the speed of sound and on an unpredictable flight path.
All of this comes at a time of drastic global price rises in food and fuel, hot on the heels of the pandemic, so budgets are already tight. Allocating yet more money for defence may prove unpopular domestically when there are so many other pressing demands on government spending.
But military chiefs warn that if Nato does not bolster its security now, then the cost of further Russian aggression in the future will be infinitely greater.
With inputs from BBC
APRIL 7: The research found people with severe Covid, and those infected during the first wave, had the highest clot risk.
This highlights the importance of being vaccinated against the virus, the researchers say.
Blood clots can also occur after vaccination but the risk is far smaller, a major UK study found.
People who have had Covid-19 are more likely to develop a blood clot - particularly patients who have needed hospital treatment. Scientists wanted to find out when that risk returns to normal levels.
The researchers tracked the health of just over one million people who tested positive for Covid between February 2020 and May 2021 in Sweden, and compared them with four million people of the same age and sex who had not had a positive test.
After a Covid infection, they found an increased risk of:
-blood clots in the leg, or deep vein thrombosis (DVT), for up to three months
-blood clots in the lungs, or pulmonary embolism, for up to six months
-internal bleeding, such as a stroke, for up to two months
When the researchers compared the risks of blood clots after Covid to the normal level of risk, they found that:
-four in every 10,000 Covid patients developed DVT compared with one in every 10,000 people who didn't have Covid
-about 17 in every 10,000 Covid patients had a blood clot in the lung compared with fewer than one in every 10,000 who did not have Covid
The study, published in the BMJ, said the raised risk of blood clots was higher in the first wave than later waves, probably because treatments improved during the pandemic and older patients were starting to be vaccinated by the second wave.
'Good reason to have vaccine'
The risk of a blood clot in the lung in people who were very seriously ill with Covid was 290 times greater than normal, and seven times higher than normal after mild Covid. But there was no raised risk of internal bleeding in mild cases.
"For unvaccinated individuals, that's a really good reason to get a vaccine - the risk is so much higher than the risk from vaccines," says Anne-Marie Fors Connolly, principal study investigator from Umea University in Sweden.
The researchers can't prove that Covid caused the blood clots in this study but they have several theories on why it happens.
It could be the direct effect of the virus on the layer of cells which line blood vessels, an exaggerated inflammatory response to the virus, or the body making blood clots at inappropriate times.
Vaccines are very effective against severe Covid, but offer less protection against infection, particularly with the Omicron variant - meaning repeat infections with symptoms are common as countries work out how to live with Covid.
Frederick K Ho, public health lecturer from the University of Glasgow, said this study "reminds us of the need to remain vigilant to the complications associated with even mild [Covid] infection, including thromboembolism".
The risk of blood clots goes up after vaccination, but "the magnitude of risk remains smaller and persists for a shorter period than that associated with infection", he adds.
MARCH 11: Their report comes two years to the day from when the World Health Organization first declared the pandemic.
The Covid-19 excess mortality team at the US's Washington University studied 191 countries and territories for what they call the true global death figure.
Some deaths were from the virus, while others were linked to the infection.
This is because catching Covid might worsen other pre-existing medical conditions, such as heart or lung disease, for example.
The measure used is called excess deaths - how many more people have been dying than would be expected compared to recent years, before the pandemic hit.
To calculate this, the researchers gathered data through searches of various government websites, the World Mortality Database, the Human Mortality Database, and the European Statistical Office.
Rates of excess deaths are estimated to have varied dramatically by country and region, but the overall global rate calculated in the study is 120 deaths per 100,000 people.
That would mean about 18.2 million deaths have happened because of Covid in the two years between the start of 2020 and the end of 2021 - three times as many as the official 5.9 million that have actually been recorded.
Excess death estimates were calculated for the full study period only, and not by week or month, because of lags and inconsistencies in reporting of Covid death data that could drastically alter the estimates, the investigators stress.
According to the research, which is published in The Lancet, the highest rates were in lower income countries in Latin America, Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. But deaths were also fairly high in some high-income countries, such as Italy and parts of the US.
The five countries with the highest estimated excess death rates were:
-Bolivia
-Bulgaria
-Eswatini
-North Macedonia
-Lesotho
The five with the lowest were:
-Iceland
-Australia
-Singapore
-New Zealand
-Taiwan
For the UK, the estimated total number of Covid-related deaths in 2020 and 2021 was similar to official records at about 173,000, with an excess mortality rate of 130 people per 100,000.
Lead author Dr Haidong Wang, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, said: "Understanding the true death toll from the pandemic is vital for effective public health decision-making.
"Studies from several countries, including Sweden and the Netherlands, suggest Covid was the direct cause of most excess deaths, but we currently don't have enough evidence for most locations.
"Further research will help to reveal how many deaths were caused directly by Covid, and how many occurred as an indirect result of the pandemic."
The researchers predict that excess mortality linked to the pandemic will decline, thanks to vaccines and new treatments.
But they warn that the pandemic is not yet over. And new, dangerous variants of the virus could emerge.
With inputs from BBC
HELSINKI, Feb. 18: The female hormone estrogen may protect women from severe heart disease and death caused by COVID-19, said Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) in a press release on Thursday.
The estrogen supplement halved the risk of death due to COVID-19 in women, according to a joint study by HUS, the University of Helsinki, and the University of Umea of Sweden.
The mortality rate for women receiving the estrogen supplement was 2.1 percent, compared with 4.6 percent for women in the control group, according to the study.
The study has been published in BMJ Open, a peer-reviewed open-access medical journal.
The study compared the mortality of women diagnosed with COVID-19 disease at the beginning of the pandemic with the effect of estrogen on mortality.
The study included around 15,000 women aged 50 to 80 who were diagnosed with COVID-19 related heart disease between February and September 2020. The 2,500 women in the study had estrogen replacement therapy for menopausal symptoms, and about 200 women received estrogen-lowering medication after cancer treatment. There were 12,000 women in the control group who did not receive estrogen-increasing or estrogen-lowering medication.
The group receiving estrogen-lowering therapy had the highest risk of death. However, a causal relationship to estrogen could not be established as patients in this group were older than the control group and had received cancer treatment. Age and cancer treatments increase the risk of serious heart disease and death caused by COVID-19.
"Our study does not yet lead to a change in treatment practices, so estrogen therapy should not be started or estrogen-lowering medication should be discontinued based on this study," said Malin Sund, professor and chief physician at HUS, in the press release.
The study was conducted before COVID-19 vaccines were available. Thus, it is not yet possible to deduce from the study how much estrogen reduces the risk of serious illness and death among vaccinated women, said the release.
FEB 1: A total of 12 Premier League transfers on deadline day took spending to the highest total since 2018's £430m as clubs appear to have recovered from the effects Covid had on finances.
Premier League clubs only spent £70m in January 2021, and less than £10m on deadline day.
Twelve months on, Spurs signed two Juventus players for at least £24m, sold England midfielder Dele Alli to Frank Lampard's Everton for a fee of up to £40m and loaned out three players.
Newcastle brought in two Premier League defenders, while Manchester City and Burnley recruited strikers for more than £10m.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left Arsenal for Barcelona on a free transfer, while Juventus loaned Aaron Ramsey to Scottish champions Rangers.
Over half of the money spent by Premier League clubs (£150m) came from the bottom five clubs - Everton, Norwich, Newcastle, Watford and Burnley. Last year the bottom five spent a total of £5m.
Dan Jones, partner and head of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: "This transfer window indicates that the financial pressures of Covid on Premier League clubs are easing, with spending firmly back to pre-pandemic levels and remarkably among the highest we've ever seen in January.
"The Premier League continues to lead the way globally, retaining its status as the world's biggest domestic football league in financial terms, once again supported by full stadia and securing strong overseas broadcast deals."
Europe's other top four leagues combined spent 380m euros (£317m), only £2m more than the Premier League and EFL combined.
Premier League clubs' net spending (the cost of purchases minus sales) of £180m is the highest since the January transfer window was introduced in 2003.
Uruguay midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur joins Spurs for £15.9m (which could rise by £5m) and Antonio Conte's side have paid an £8.3m loan fee for Sweden winger Dejan Kulusevski with an option to buy for £29.2m.
Record signing Tanguy Ndombele (Lyon), Bryan Gil (Valencia) and Giovani lo Celso (Villarreal) have all left on a temporary basis.
Newcastle signed Brighton's Dan Burn for £13m and Aston Villa's Matt Targett on loan to end an impressive month of recruitment.
Manchester City signed River Plate striker Julian Alvarez for £14.1m - although he will go back on loan to the Argentine club until the summer.
Burnley signed striker Wout Weghorst from Wolfsburg for £12m.
His Netherlands team-mate Donny van de Beek became Lampard's first signing as Everton boss, completing a loan move from Manchester United, and Alli became his first permanent recruit on an initial free transfer.
Crystal Palace signed two strikers - Jean-Philippe Mateta, who had been on loan from Mainz, for £9m and £1m Luke Plange, who goes back on loan to old club Derby.
Brighton signed Royale Union Saint-Gilloise forward Deniz Undav for a reported £6m but loaned him back to the Belgian club.
Brentford made the first signing of the day when they recruited Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen on a free transfer.
Championship promotion chasers Bournemouth were very busy with five signings. They signed Norwich midfielder Todd Cantwell, Liverpool defender Nat Phillips and Newcastle goalkeeper Freddie Woodman on loan, plus forwards Kieffer Moore and Siriki Dembele for undisclosed fees.
Other Premier League players to move to the second tier on loan were Tino Anjorin (Chelsea to Huddersfield), Jed Steer (Aston Villa to Luton) and Charlie Goode (Brentford to Sheffield United).
What happened in the rest of January?
Liverpool made the biggest signing of the window in England the day before deadline day, with Porto's Colombia winger Luis Diaz joining in a deal worth 45m euros (£37.5m), with a further 15m euros (£12.5m) in potential bonuses.
Newcastle had already sealed a deal for Lyon's Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes for £35m with £6.6m in add-ons, Burnley striker Chris Wood for £25m and Atletico Madrid and England right-back Kieran Trippier for £12m.
There were four other Premier League signings worth £10m or more.
Aston Villa signed Everton left-back Lucas Digne for £25m, while Everton bought two defenders for a combined £27m - Rangers' Nathan Patterson and Dynamo Kyiv's Vitalii Mykolenko.
Wolves made the loan signing of RB Leipzig forward Hwang Hee-chan permanent for £14m.
The biggest signing in Europe came when Juventus signed Fiorentina forward Dusan Vlahovic - who had been a target for several Premier League sides - for an initial £58m.
Villa signed Barcelona's Philippe Coutinho on loan, while Adama Traore (Wolves to Barcelona), Anthony Martial (Manchester United to Sevilla) and Amad Diallo (Manchester United to Rangers) all left the Premier League on temporary deals.
UK, Jan 22: A new form of Omicron named BA.2 has been designated a "variant under investigation," with 426 cases of the Omicron variant sub-lineage confirmed in the United Kingdom (UK), the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said Friday. "Overall, the original Omicron lineage, BA.1, is dominant in the UK and the proportion of BA.2 cases is currently low," with the earliest dated Dec. 6, 2021, the agency said in a statement.
In total, 40 countries have uploaded 8,040 BA.2 sequences to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) since Nov. 17. At this point, it is not possible to determine where the sub-lineage may have originated, it added.
The first sequences were submitted from the Philippines, and most samples have been uploaded from Denmark (6,411), while other countries that have uploaded more than 100 samples are India (530), Sweden (181), and Singapore (127), according to the agency.
Meera Chand, incident director at the agency, said new mutations are "expected" as the pandemic continues. "So far, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether BA.2 causes more severe illness than Omicron BA.1, but data is limited and UKHSA continues to investigate." Official figures on Friday showed the UK added 95,787 COVID-19 cases in the latest 24 hours, bringing its total caseload to 15,709,059, and 288 more deaths, taking the national death toll to 153,490.
More than 90 percent of people aged 12 and above in the UK have had their first dose of vaccine, more than 83 percent have taken both shots, and more than 63 percent have received booster jabs.
JAN 23: A new form of Omicron named BA.2 has been designated a "variant under investigation," with 426 cases of the Omicron variant sub-lineage confirmed in the United Kingdom (UK), the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said Friday.
"Overall, the original Omicron lineage, BA.1, is dominant in the UK and the proportion of BA.2 cases is currently low," with the earliest dated Dec. 6, 2021, the agency said in a statement.
In total, 40 countries have uploaded 8,040 BA.2 sequences to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) since Nov. 17. At this point, it is not possible to determine where the sub-lineage may have originated, it added. The first sequences were submitted from the Philippines, and most samples have been uploaded from Denmark (6,411), while other countries that have uploaded more than 100 samples are India (530), Sweden (181), and Singapore (127), according to the agency.
Meera Chand, incident director at the agency, said new mutations are "expected" as the pandemic continues. "So far, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether BA.2 causes more severe illness than Omicron BA.1, but data is limited and UKHSA continues to investigate."
Official figures on Friday showed the UK added 95,787 COVID-19 cases in the latest 24 hours, bringing its total caseload to 15,709,059, and 288 more deaths, taking the national death toll to 153,490. More than 90 percent of people aged 12 and above in the UK have had their first dose of vaccine, more than 83 percent have taken both shots, and more than 63 percent have received booster jabs.
