The Omicron coronavirus subvariant JN.1 now makes up about 44.2 per cent of COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The variant, which was previously classified under its parent strain, BA.2.86, prompted concern among some scientists earlier this year due to its high number of mutations.
As of Friday, CDC data estimates indicate that the quickly spreading variant is now causing almost half of infections in the US. The data shows that JN.1 makes up nearly 57 per cent of new COVID-19 cases in the Northeastern part of the country.
Health experts say there is no evidence that JN.1 causes any more severe disease, and existing tests, vaccines, and treatments are still expected to work.
“We know that the COVID virus continues to change. And even in the last few weeks, it has changed again,” Mandy Cohen, the director of CDC, told ABC News.
Ms Cohen said “The good news is that, that new change to the virus…one, we can still pick it up with our tests. Two, our treatments are still effective against that change. And importantly, the updated COVID vaccine you can get right now is still good coverage for those changes – we’ve seen that in the lab.”
Variant of Interest
Globally, JN.1 continues to be reported in multiple countries, and its prevalence has rapidly increased.
Several countries in Europe – including Denmark, Spain, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands – have seen exponential growth of JN.1 and, with it, rising hospitalisations. It’s also growing quickly in Australia, Asia and Canada.
The World Health Organisation named it a variant of interest on Tuesday because of its “rapidly increasing spread” but noted that the additional public health risk remains low.
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The WHO lists variables under three separate categories: variants of concern, which is the highest level; variants of interest; and variants under monitoring.
JN.1 now joins other Omicron sub-variants such as XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16, EG.5, and BA.2.86 on the list of variants of interest.
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