The cases of COVID-19 in the United States continue to rise, to the point that the First Lady, Jill Biden, one of the most visible public faces in the country, has also tested positive for the virus.
“The case of the First Lady shows us that the transmission of COVID-19 continues at a time when infections have been increasing in different states. The symptoms may be minor or people may be asymptomatic. However, compared to the two In previous weeks, the number of hospitalizations and admissions to intensive care have been increasing,” says Dr. Dadilia Garcés, an epidemiologist and professor at Miami Dade College.
The so-called Eris variant already represents 21.5% of infections in the country and Fornax 14.5%; the rest are 29 much less significant variants.
“Despite the fact that these two variants are circulating mostly in the country, there is international concern about the BA.2.86 variant, unofficially known as “PIROLA” because it has more than 30 mutations in its spike that may allow it to evade detection. natural immunity or immunity acquired by vaccines,” says Garcés, an epidemiologist.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in its risk assessment admits that the so-called “PIROLA” variant may be capable of infecting people who have already had COVID or have been vaccinated.
In this context, many debate between getting a new dose of the vaccine or not. To which the epidemiologist and professor at Miami Dade College warns: “The vaccine is still important to protect us. The CDC this month is going to issue its bulletin on the recommendations for the updated vaccine. Despite the fact that the same variants are not circulating of Ómicron from which this vaccine was formulated, the injection still has the capacity to protect because despite the mutations, these new variants belong to the ómicron family”.
