A new strain of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which will replace omicron, could break through immune defenses and cause severe and life-threatening complications. This is the opinion expressed by scientists from the United Kingdom and Italy, the journal Nature Reviews Microbiology writes. According to the scientists, the easy course of COVID-19 in omicron can be explained by simple coincidence. However, it is likely that antigenic evolution will lead to new variants of the virus that can evade immunity and cause severe symptoms. According to scientists, the evolution of the virus is determined by increasing contagiousness and the ability to evade an immune response. The severity of the disease, however, is only a byproduct of evolution. As Izvestia informs, Deputy Director for Institute of Epidemiology of Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare, Natalia Pshenichnaya, has also pointed out the inevitability of further mutation of COVID-19 and the emergence of new strains. According to Russian consumer protection watchdog experts, the emergence of new strains is now most likely in the Western Pacific region. "Evolution does not select the weakest specimens from viruses that "pity" humans. Therefore, there is no guarantee that the virus will not become more dangerous," Mikhail Bolkov, a senior researcher at the Department of Immunochemistry at Ural Federal University said. In his opinion, the virus can change in such a way that it can more successfully bypass the protection of an over-infected or vaccinated patient.