XBB.1.5

XBB.1.5 strain of CovidCFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty ImagesThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday recommended that vaccine manufacturers make single-strain Covid shots for the fall that target omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, the dominant strain of the virus nationwide."Based on the totality of the evidence, FDA has advised manufacturers who will be updating their COVID-19 vaccines, that they should develop vaccines with a monovalent XBB 1.5 composition," the agency said in a release, referring to pharmaceutical…

A study published in the…

People wearing masks walk next to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing site in New York City, New York, U.S., December 12, 2022. Eduardo Munoz | ReutersThe Biden administration has extended the Covid-19 public health emergency until April as a highly transmissible omicron subvariant stokes concern that the U.S. may face another wave of hospitalizations from the disease this winter."The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency remains in effect, and as HHS committed to earlier, we will provide a 60-day notice to states before…

A new, rapidly spreading variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, means a rise in new infections could be around the corner. And while it likely won’t skirt immunity completely, the variant could dodge some of our defenses thanks to a mutational boost. XBB.1.5—unofficially nicknamed “Kraken” by some scientists online—is an Omicron subvariant that has caught the attention of virologists in recent weeks because of its significant advantage in how fast it spreads. Research by computational virologist Trevor…

XBB.1.5, the latest rising version of the virus that causes Covid-19, is following an all-too-familiar pattern: It’s yet another branch off the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, and it’s even more transmissible than past versions, gaining traction as people huddle indoors for the winter. In the United States, XBB.1.5 is rapidly growing, causing almost 28 percent of new Covid-19 cases nationwide as of January 6, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from just 4 percent of cases at the…

Covid continues to…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday revised downward its estimate of how much the omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant is circulating across the U.S., though it continues to spread at a faster pace than other versions of Covid-19.XBB.1.5 made up 27.6% of sequenced Covid cases nationally for the week ending Jan. 7 compared with 18.3% for the week end Dec. 31. The CDC previously reported that XBB.1.5 made up about 41% of sequenced cases for the week ending Dec. 31, more than any other variant.Although the agency…

You may have come home with it after a recent trip to New England. Or you may have gotten it from that friend or family member who flew in from New York over the holidays.The newest Omicron subvariant of concern is XBB.1.5, and it has arrived in Southern California. This version of the coronavirus is more contagious and more resistant to existing immunity than any of it predecessors.“It’s just the latest and greatest and most infectious variant,” said Paula Cannon, a virologist at USC. “It’s amazing to me that this virus…

XBB.1.5 strain, January 4, 2023, Suqian, Jiangsu, China.CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty ImagesThe XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant that's currently dominating the U.S. is the most contagious version of Covid-19 yet, but it doesn't appear to make people sicker, according to the World Health Organization.Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's Covid-19 technical lead, said global health officials are worried about how quickly the subvariant is spreading in the northeastern U.S. The number of people infected with XBB.1.5 has been doubling…

A new version of Omicron XBB.1.5 has raised concerns in many countries including India where its cases have been reported, and it has the capability to infect even those who have been vaccinated, according to experts. This comes as on January 3, the SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) informed that India has a total of five detected cases of the XBB.1.5 variant. INSACOG also said that of the five cases, three were found in Gujarat and one each in Karnataka and Rajasthan.…