It was not clear if the new variant could cause more severe disease than the dominant omicron variant BA.5 and scientists seem concerned about how geographically widespread it has become.
A firm known as Helix, which has been monitoring the variant's spread, has noted that it is now in at least three U.S. states. California, Washington and Illinois have all detected cases so far. As The Hill reported, another professor at New York's Institute of Technology says his data shows the variant is in at least seven U.S. states: California, Washington, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.
The quickly changing omicron mutation has gained ground in India and has appeared in other countries apart from the United States. Scientists say the variant may be able to spread rapidly and get around immunity from vaccines and previous infection, the Associated Press reported. It's unclear whether it could cause more serious disease than the globally dominant variant BA.5. Scientists are concerned about the fact that it's widespread in multiple countries.
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