New Coronavirus Subvariant Attracting Attention As Possible Threat Going Into Winter

The Los Angeles Times (9/23, Lin) reports new coronavirus subvariant XEC is picking up momentum and attracting additional “attention as a potential threat heading into late autumn and winter – a development that threatens to reverse recent promising transmission trends and is prompting doctors to renew their calls for residents to get an updated vaccine.” The subvariant “is gaining traction in Western Europe, said Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious diseases at Kaiser Permanente Southern California. Like virtually all coronavirus strains that have emerged in the past few years, it’s a member of the sprawling Omicron family – and a hybrid between two previously documented subvariants, KP.3 and KS.1.1.”