what to know
- You’ve probably heard of the XBB.1.5 variant; it is the latest “most transmissible COVID-19 variant yet” and appears to be better at binding to human cells, potentially making it more adept at infecting.
- At present, there is no evidence that the strain, a combination of two previous subvariants of omicron, is deadlier or more likely to cause complications from COVID, but as a senior White House official said this week, if it isn’t been recently vaccinated or infected, your protection probably isn’t as good.
- Nowhere is XBB.1.5 more prevalent than in the northeastern United States, according to the CDC; in the New York region, it accounts for about 73% of cases versus 27.6% nationwide.
NEW YORK – The new variant of COVID-19, the most transmissible yet, which prompted renewed global caution in recent weeks, continues to assert its dominance in the New York City area, as the latest CDC data released Friday they indicate that control is being lost over the nation as a whole.
That XBB.1.5 strain, another descendant of omicron, is a highly infectious “recombinant” spawned from two different, earlier subvariants of omicron. These two were considered more transmissible than their predecessors at the time they emerged, and the resulting fusion, XBB.1.5, is thought to be much more potent in terms of infectivity.
As of the CDC’s Friday update, XBB.1.5 accounts for approximately 73% of cases and up to 81.2% of viruses circulating in the agency’s New York region, which also includes New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Both percentages have increased significantly since the last weekly update of go CDC, which now includes the revised data (estimated prevalence 59.6% with a peak of 70.3% for the week ending 12/31/2022). In other words, what was a high-end estimate for XBB.1.5 in New York last week doesn’t even cover where the CDC thinks its stakes are now.
What’s special about this? Scientists say XBB.1.5 has a mutation that makes it more adept at attaching itself to human cells, which could make it better at infecting people than previous variants, including the large number of strains that have descended from omicrons in the ‘ last year and they have changed.
New York City’s positivity rates are confirming transmissibility issues, with more than a third of neighborhoods across the five boroughs now seeing those numbers above 20%, with some places exceeding 30% positivity. There is currently no evidence that XBB.1.5 is deadlier or causes more severe COVID infections, and the fact that hospitalization rates in the city have not changed dramatically despite increased transmission underscores the point.
CDC’s Connecticut region, which includes Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, has also changed significantly over the past week in terms of variant representation. The agency now estimates that XBB.1.5 accounts for up to 79.6% of the COVID circulating there, up from a revised high of 67.3% a week ago.
Nationwide, the latest CDC data marks a sharp reversal from last week’s trends, which place XBB.1.5 in about 40.5% of national cases (61% at the high end). Friday’s changes revise those numbers from last week to 18.3% and 32.8%, respectively, and place the current estimated prevalence of the variant at around 27.6%. It is not close to the dominant.
While the public health threat has been largely contained through vaccination and booster shots, and this variant, while better equipped to infect may not make people sick, the CDC and the World Health Organization have expressed concern about the rapid rate at which it is spreading throughout the northeastern United States.
Dr. Ashish Jha, head of the White House COVID-19 Task Force, addressed a number of points about XBB.1.5 in a lengthy thread on Chirping earlier this week. He said the variant is “arguably” more immune evasive than its predecessors and “could be” more contagious. She also pointed out that if you had an infection before July or were last vaccinated before September’s bivalent update, “your protection against an XBB.1.5 infection is not so good.”
In New York, state data shows COVID hospitalizations are back to a six-month high and the continued positivity rate (8.7% since last update) is at its highest level since August. Given the looming nurses’ strike and continued concerns about flu and RSV, the message is once again to double down on protecting yourself and your loved ones.
“Since it emerged, the COVID-19 virus continues to change,” interim state health commissioner Dr. James McDonald said in a statement on Friday. “The new dual-purpose booster has been updated to address these changes, which is why it’s so important that all New Yorkers 6 months and older get the important protection it offers.”
“The booster provides significant protection against becoming seriously ill or hospitalized, and according to the most recent data from the CDC, those who received the bivalent booster were 18 times less likely to die from COVID-19 than people who didn’t. vaccinated, McDonald’s added.
Governor Kathy Hochul also continues to encourage New Yorkers to get their boosters of the COVID-19 bivalent vaccine. To make an appointment for a booster, New Yorkers should contact their local pharmacy, county health department, or health care provider; Visited vacunas.gov; text your zip code to 438829 or call 1-800-232-0233 to find locations near you.
