" We find that federal fiscal assistance dollars had a modest if any impact on the pace of vaccine rollouts, may have improved the equitability of vaccine administration, and had a substantial impact on the volume of tests administered...."
The newly identified variant has many genetic mutations and is distant from BA.2, its likely ancestor, and currently circulating XBB variants. The similarity of the sequences so far—six samples from four countries—suggests relatively recent emergence and rapid growth, but the HSA said it has low confidence in that assessment, pending the examination of further sequences.
"We will be encouraging all Americans to get those boosters in addition to flu shots and RSV shots," the official said, referring to the Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
The updated COVID-19 booster shots were designed to target the XBB variant, and they’ll still likely work just as well against the new dominant strain.
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