New COVID Variant BA.2.86 Spreading In The U.S. In August 2023. Here Are Key Facts Experts Want You To Know.

CBS San Francisco

August 25, 2023

Health authorities and scientists say they are now racing to study BA.2.86, a new strain of the virus that causes COVID-19, after the highly mutated variant was spotted spreading in multiple countries around the world and at least three different U.S. states.

For now, officials say they remain well-equipped to deal with the strain if it continues to spread. Early assessments suggest current treatments and tests, as well as upcoming vaccines to be rolled out next month, will not be rendered useless by BA.2.86.

But a number of questions remain about the variant, nicknamed "Pirola" on social media, whose mutations could amount to an evolutionary jump on par with the emergence of the Omicron variant in 2021.

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