A new omicron variant makes up 16% of cases in the Southeast. What you need to know.

Teddy Rosenbluth
·1 min read
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A new variant, EG.5, has become the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States.

In the Southeast, EG.5 makes up about 16% of COVID-19 cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. Though the new variant has a few mutations that separate it from the XBB variant — which was previously dominant in the United States— it is still a part of the omicron family.

“We’re just going from iPhone 1 to iPhone 5 to iPhone 8, iPhone 14 — It’s a variation on a theme,” said Dr. David Wohl, a UNC Health epidemiologist. “It’s not jumping to an Android.”

Here’s what you need to know:

  • EG.5 spreads more easily than prior variants, laboratory studies suggest. For those who want to avoid infection and reduce their chances of developing long COVID, wearing a mask in public places is an effective way to lower risk, Wohl said.

  • Infection symptoms are not significantly different from XBB, Wohl said.

  • EG.5 does not appear to cause more serious infection than other variants, Wohl said.

  • There is no evidence that the EG.5 variant is significantly better than XBB in evading the immunity developed via prior infections and vaccination, Wohl said.

  • Current COVID-19 vaccines still do a “pretty good job of keeping most people safe,” Wohl said. The new COVID vaccine, which will be made available in October, will do an even better job since it was designed to battle XBB, a close cousin to the new variant.

Teddy Rosenbluth covers science and health care for The News & Observer in a position funded by Duke Health and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.

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