Health Department said it confirmed Omicron BA.4 and was preliminarily tracking BA.5 in the U.S. Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands Health Department said during the Government House briefing on July 5, 2022, that it had confirmed the Omicron subvariant BA.4 and had preliminary findings indicating the presence of BA.5.

Health Commissioner Justa Encarnacion said the department expected the variant to circulate in the community.

The department reported a seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate of 8.72% as of July 5, with 163 active cases: 119 on St. Croix, 32 on St. Thomas and 12 on St. John. It said there were no COVID-19 patients hospitalized at Juan F. Luis Hospital on St. Croix and two hospitalized at Schneider Regional Medical Center on St. Thomas, including one on a ventilator.

The department also said pediatric COVID-19 vaccines had been authorized for younger children, including Pfizer-BioNTech for children ages 6 months to 4 years as a three-dose primary series and Moderna for children ages 6 months to 5 years as a two-dose primary series. It said it was setting venues and schedules for infant vaccinations.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/department-of-health-tracking-omicron-variants-ba-4-ba-5/