New York Times JN.1 accounts for nearly all U.S. Covid cases. Here’s what to know about the risk of a new infection.
Over the last few years, the general assumption has been that a Covid infection — or vaccination — is likely to buy you a few months of protection. But any time we get a new variant that is especially adept at evading the immune system, like JN.1, that assumption gets thrown into question.
JN.1 currently accounts for about 93 percent of cases nationwide, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s unusual for a single variant to make up almost all cases, but JN.1’s dominance gives us a unique window into the risk of reinfection for many people.
If you had Covid when cases rose over the summer, or if you received the updated vaccine in the fall, here’s what to know.
If I had Covid during the summer, how much protection do I have now?
You may be vulnerable to reinfection if you were infected over the summer, when earlier variants drove an uptick in cases.