A new strain of COVID-19 that was only identified a week ago in the U.S. has prompted the CDC to take the rare step of issuing a formal message that it could evade vaccines or the protection of natural immunity.
The strain is called BA.2.86 and is of particular concern because of its more than 30 mutations, which means it may behave very differently than previous versions of the virus. That number of mutations is on par with the difference between variants so serious that they were formally named, such as between Delta and Omicron, the CDC explained in theWorldwide, health agencies are issuing a flurry of updates on BA.2.86.
Among the characteristics the CDC monitors for are how contagious a strain is, how well it responds to treatment, and how severely it affects people. “BA.2.86 may be more capable of causing infection in people who have previously had COVID-19 or who have received COVID-19 vaccines,” the CDC risk assessment stated.
The agency is evaluating how well the forthcoming updated vaccine, due out in September, performs against BA.2.86. A new forecast also released this week by the CDC predicts hospitalizations due to the virus will continue their upward trend through at least mid-September.
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