Tracking Variants and Viruses Reports of BA.5 cases continue to decline, decreasing by 5.7 percent this week. Omicron’s new subvariants, BQ.1, and its relative BQ.1.1  — spreading fairly quickly — now account for about 17 percent of the country. The dominant variant: BA.5 (62.2% of US cases) Other variants: BA.4.6 (11.3%), BQ.1 (9.4%) Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Other top stories Moderna announced that it’s close to signing a deal with the US Department of Defense to develop vaccines against Ebola, Bloomberg reports.