Experts are linking a new COVID-19 variant, nicknamed "Eris," to a recent spike in cases throughout the country.
In Connecticut, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data from Aug. 12 shows 161 new COVID-19 hospitalizations compared to 118 the previous week.
“It is not necessarily more dangerous than the previous variants, but we are seeing an uptick associated with that,” said Dr. Ulysses Wu, chief epidemiologist for Hartford HealthCare.
Then, there’s the new BA.2.86 variant that has caught experts’ attention. So far, CDC reports show just two cases in the entire United States, but as of last week, the variant is being monitored for its increased ability to evade the immune system.
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“I don’t want people to panic when they hear that. It’s not necessarily that your immune system can’t take care of it, it just means that if you’ve been exposed to COVID in the past, or if you’ve gotten a vaccination, your immune system may not recognize this new variant,” Wu said.
That said, past exposure to other strains or a vaccine may still help if fighting BA 2.86.
“The good news is that it doesn’t evade completely so if you have had COVID and/or you’ve had vaccinations, your immune system is still revved up to a certain extent,” Wu said.
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The CDC website says right now, scientists are “evaluating the effectiveness of a forthcoming, updated COVID-19 vaccine” but say “this updated vaccine will be effective at reducing severe disease and hospitalization.”
The CDC also reports that at this point, there is “no evidence that this variant is causing more severe illness,” but says that may change as more questions are answered.
“Is it really fit for replication and infection? Will it take over as a dominant variant? We don’t know that right now,” Wu said.
