Tectonic Shift -- Closing A Loop -- Covid -- April 22, 2024

Locator: 47057COVID.

Yesterday, I asked rhetorically, whatever happened to all those Covid variants. LOL. 

Well, I checked.

The question almost sounds "sarcastic"? What variant are we on now? LOL. Now? As if there will be a variant du jour for the rest of our lives. Big Pharma certainly hopes so.

So, anyway, JN.1, from the CDC:

As of April 17, 2024, the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant JN.1 has very high prevalence in the United States, with CDC Nowcast projections estimating JN.1 to account for more than 95% of all COVID-19 illnesses in the US. 

The proportion of illnesses caused by JN.1 subvariant JN.1.13 is increasing and is projected to account for nearly 10% of new COVID-19 illnesses.

A very high proportion (>95%) of individuals currently have identifiable antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, either from infection or immunization or a combination of both.

The JN.1 variant is a subvariant of Omicron variant BA.2.86, and contains several mutations that are associated with escape from vaccine-mediated immune protection. 

Recent research shows that JN.1 is very efficient at immune evasion (even more so than other Omicron variants), resulting in an increased reproductive number. 

Evidence from a small serological study has suggested that serological protection against SARS-CoV-2 is reduced against JN.1 variants compared to other BA.2.86 viruses, among young adults who had received at least a complete primary series of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Additionally, a recent serological survey of 1,472 community-dwelling individuals found that although a majority of previously-infected individuals had antibodies with neutralizing activity against JN.1, the neutralizing capacity was relatively low compared to neutralizing capacity against other SARS-CoV-2 strains.

Although JN.1 does appear to be more transmissible, it does not appear to cause more severe disease than other SARS-CoV-2 variants.