What You Need to Know About XBB.1.5, the Latest Omicron Variant

The newest XBB.1.5 COVID-19 variant has quickly become a higher percentage of total COVID cases in the U.S. and causes 40% of COVID-19 infections. Should the general public be concerned? Virologist Andy Pekosz explains what they are seeing, what this new variant means for case rates and treatments, and why it’s so important for more people to get the bivalent booster. The XBB family of variants emerged a few months ago and caught virologists’ attention because it contains more mutations to evade immunity than any other variant. They don’t have firm numbers yet, but based on what they know about the XBB variants, someone who has been infected with an earlier omicron variant is likely susceptible to reinfection with XBB.1.5. See more from Johns Hopkins here.