Scientists warn that a new variant of COVID, called XEC, has begun to spread around the world. BBC reports.
It is noted that it may soon become the main variety of coronavirus and displace the previous ones.
This variant was first detected in July in Germany, and since then cases of XEC have been recorded in the UK, the USA, Denmark and several other countries, American scientist, Director of Scripps Research Institute Eric Topol reported on X.
He writes that the spread of XEC is «just beginning».
«It will take many weeks, a couple of months, and then it will really gain traction and cause its own wave,» Topol told the LA Times.
«It is very clear that XEC is becoming the main one. It looks like it will be the next variant. But it will take several months before it reaches high levels of spread,» Topol believes.
XEC differs from its predecessors in some mutations that can help it spread faster, scientists note. However, they believe that existing vaccines should help prevent the most serious health consequences for people.
The pharmaceutical industry is constantly updating coronavirus vaccines, and so far it has not adapted them to the new variant. But that does not mean that current vaccines do not work against it.
Professor Francois Ballou, head of the Institute of Genetics at University College London, told the BBC that XEC has a «small advantage in terms of spread» compared to previous variants, but existing vaccines still provide good protection against it.
Ballou predicts that it is likely that XEC could become the main variant of COVID-19 during the coming winter.
