Three new variants of COVID-19 are circulating in the United States, but public health officials say the newest vaccines against the virus will provide protection.
In June, the Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee met to predict which strain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, would dominate the coming fall and winter cycle. At that time, the FDA advised vaccine manufacturers to tailor their vaccines to the XBB 1.5 strain, a variant of Omicron.
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Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is monitoring three different variants, EG.5, FL 1.5.1, and BA 2.86, making up the majority of cases in the United States.
An FDA spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the newest round of vaccines, to be available in mid- or late September, will be effective against all three variants.
"If authorized or approved, based upon the available evidence, the FDA believes these vaccines with a monovalent XBB.1.5 composition will provide the best available protection against the most serious consequences of the disease resulting from currently circulating variants," the FDA spokesperson said.
EG.5, nicknamed Eris after the Greek goddess of chaos who indirectly started the Trojan War, makes up approximately 20.6% of current infections, while FL 1.5.1 comprises 13.3%. Both are Omicron variants.
“The two strains, EG.5 and XBB.1.5, are not identical, but they're pretty close,” said Scott Roberts, an infectious disease specialist for Yale Medicine. “My strong suspicion is that, given the genetic similarities, there will still be a good degree of protection from the booster."
The BA 2.86, nicknamed Pirola, has several mutations that make it significantly different from other Omicron variants. The CDC says that Pirola is mutated to a similar degree as the difference between the first highly infectious Omicron strain and its Delta precursors.
There were only seven confirmed cases of Pirola in the United States as of Aug. 19, per CDC data, and it is also present in Denmark and Israel.
"BA.2.86 indeed carries the risk of becoming internationally widespread. As it spreads, it could accumulate more mutations," Rajendram Rajnarayanan, assistant dean of research at the New York Institute of Technology, told USA Today.
The majority of Americans, however, say that the COVID-19 pandemic is officially over.
In June, a Gallup survey found that a total of 64% of Americans, including 51% of Democrats, 84% of Republicans, and 65% of independents, say that they are confident that the pandemic is officially over.
Only 43% of Americans say that their lives have completely returned to normal, whereas 41% say their lives will never be the same as before the pandemic.
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KFF, an independent healthcare policy organization, published a survey this week that found that 33% of Americans think that it is at least probable that the COVID-19 vaccines are the cause of thousands of sudden deaths in the United States.
The study also found that 14% of Americans believe that more people died from the COVID-19 vaccines than from the disease itself, and 24% believe that the vaccines cause infertility.