Recently, a large number of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants continuously emerged and posed a major threat to global public health. Among them, particularly, Omicron variant (B.1.1.529), first identified in November 2021, carried numerous mutations in its spike protein (S), and then quickly spread around the world. Currently, Omicron variant has expanded into more than one hundred sublineages, such as BA.1, BA.2, BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5, which have already become the globally dominant variants. Different from other variants of concern (VOCs) of SARS-CoV-2, the Omicron variant and its sublineages exhibit increased transmissibility and immune escape from neutralizing antibodies generated through previous infection or vaccination, and have caused numerous re-infections and breakthrough infections. In this prospective, we have focused on the origin, virological features, immune evasion and intervention of Omicron sublineages, which will benefit the development of next-generation vaccines and therapeutics, including pan-sarbecovirus and universal anti-CoV therapeutics, to combat currently circulating and future emerging Omicron sublineages as well as other SARS-CoV-2 variants.

近期，大量严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）变种不断出现，对全球公共卫生构成重大威胁。其中，尤其是 Omicron 变体（B.1.1.529），于 2021 年 11 月首次发现，其刺突蛋白（S）携带大量突变，随后迅速传播到世界各地。目前，Omicron变体已扩展为BA.1、BA.2、BA.2.12.1、BA.4和BA.5等一百多个亚系，已成为全球主导变体。与 SARS-CoV-2 的其他受关注变体 (VOC) 不同，Omicron 变体及其亚系表现出更高的可传播性和免疫逃逸，可从先前感染或疫苗接种产生的中和抗体中逃脱，并导致许多再感染和突破性感染。