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，严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）大量变种不断出现，对全球公共卫生构成重大威胁。其中，特别是于2021年11月首次发现的Omicron变种（B.1.1.529），其刺突蛋白（S）携带大量突变，然后迅速在世界范围内传播。目前，Omicron变种已扩展到BA.1、BA.2、BA.2.12.1、BA.4和BA.5等一百多个亚系，已成为全球主导变种。与 SARS-CoV-2 的其他受关注变种 (VOC) 不同，Omicron 变种及其亚系表现出更高的传播性和对先前感染或疫苗接种产生的中和抗体的免疫逃逸能力，并导致了许​​多再感染和突破性感染。在这一前景中，我们重点关注 Omicron 亚系的起源、病毒学特征、免疫逃避和干预，这将有利于下一代疫苗和治疗方法的开发，包括泛 Sarbecovirus 和通用抗 CoV 治疗方法，以对抗当前流行的病毒以及未来新兴的 Omicron 亚系以及其他 SARS-CoV-2 变体。