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University of Nebraska Medical Center

What to Know About the New Covid Variants

NYT

HV.1 has overtaken EG.5 as the leading variant in the U.S. Scientists are also watching two other variants, BA.2.86 and JN.1.

Two closely related variants, EG.5 and HV.1, currently comprise nearly half of the Covid-19 cases in the United States.

EG.5 became the dominant variant nationwide in August. At that time, the World Health Organization classified it as a “variant of interest,” meaning it has genetic changes that give it an advantage and its prevalence was growing. The variant peaked in September at about 25 percent of cases and has since slowly started to decline, down to 13 percent in December.

HV.1 emerged in the United States at the end of the summer and has progressively made up a larger proportion of the circulating virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it overtook EG.5 as the dominant variant in late October, and now accounts for just over 30 percent of Covid cases.

Scientists have also been watching two other variants, BA.2.86 and JN.1, that they say carry an alarming number of mutations. The two variants, which the C.D.C. reports together, make up about 9 percent of cases in the United States and appear to be on the rise.

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