That raises the question as to why Quebec has not witnessed a surge in Delta. One of the theories that might explain this discrepancy is that A.2.5 is more prevalent in Quebec than elsewhere in Canada.
“One of the interesting things about this A.2.5 lineage that we’ve seen quite a lot of in Quebec is it has a relatively high number of mutations, including the 452 mutation, which is one of the ones that is in Delta,” explained Jesse Shapiro, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the McGill Genome Centre.
“We’ve sort of had this hypothesis that okay, well, maybe A.2.5 is filling the niche that would otherwise be filled with Delta.
“It’s a competitor against Delta, because it also has this L452 mutation,” Shapiro said. “That’s definitely a hypothesis. We don’t know if that’s the case. It’s essentially doing its job by digging its heels and out-competing Delta. That said, Delta is creeping up in the latest numbers. It’s not dramatic, but it is creeping up.”