New COVID Subvariant Now Accounts For Half Of All New Hampshire Cases

A new variant of the Omicron strain of COVID invading New England now accounts for more than half of all infections from the virus in New Hampshire, according to the latest data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The XBB variant only made up 11 percent of total cases across New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine at the start of the month. But as of Saturday, the variant now makes up more than 52 percent of total cases in the region.

Nationwide, XBB accounts for only 18 percent of all infections, with the most recent data revealing BQ.1.1 accounts for 35.7 percent of total COVID infections across the United States.

The XBB, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 subvariants are currently the most antibody-resident variants of COVID-19, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell this month by scientists affiliated with Columbia University and the University of Michigan. This means that even those with the most recent booster vaccine meant to protect against the Omicron variant as a whole are still experiencing breakthrough infections.

According to the CDC, the Omicron variant spreads more easily than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and the Delta variant. However, symptoms are generally milder, and unlike the Delta variation, the Omicron strain often affects the upper-respiratory tract rather than the lungs, Dr. Karine Markosyan, a physician at the St. Gregory the Illuminator Medical Center, told Unicef in March.

Yale Medicine emphasizes that some people infected with Omicron still develop severe disease and have to go to the hospital, and some die. Still, the CDC says that being up to date on COVID-19 vaccination provides strong protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death in all age groups.