Editorial: Emergence of Cicada (BA.3.2) SARS-CoV-2 and the Implications for COVID-19 Surveillance and Monitoring

SARS-CoV-2 continues to mutate and remains a persistent, endemic pathogen capable of causing COVID-19 outbreaks and epidemics, and it still has pandemic potential. In 2026, infection surveillance and screening are increasingly affected by national changes to public health programs, global conflict, and limited public health resources. However, in the past few months, despite reduced infection surveillance, an emerging Omicron (B.1.1.529) subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 has been identified. BA.3.2 (Cicada) received World Health Organization (WHO) Variant Under Monitoring (VUM) status on December 5, 2025. Five years ago, the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 was identified, and BA.3.2 (Cicada) follows several previously identified variants, emerging without an intermediate, showing that unmonitored, persistent infections with new SARS-CoV-2 variants continue to drive large evolutionary shifts in this virus. Importantly, the Cicada (BA.3.2) SARS-CoV-2 variant has 70-75 substitutions and deletions in the spike (S) protein gene sequence relative to the JN.1 variant and its descendant, LP.8.1, which were the antigens used in the 2025-26 COVID-19 vaccines. This editorial discusses how the identification of SARS-CoV-2 BA.3.2 (Cicada) underscores the importance of continued monitoring and integrating SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance with systematic phenotypic characterization to identify independently evolving Omicron lineages, understand ongoing viral adaptation, and prepare for future vaccine design to prevent epidemics and possible future pandemics of COVID-19.