EXPLAINER | What is ‘Eris’, the new Covid-19 variant?

Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations are on the rise in the US, Europe and Asia.

Health officials are pointing at the EG.5 “Eris” coronavirus, a subvariant of the Omicron lineage that originally emerged in November 2021.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) classified EG.5, nicknamed “Eris”, as a “variant of interest”, indicating it should be more closely watched than others because of mutations that might make it more contagious or severe.

However, the WHO said at this time it does not seem to pose more of a threat to public health than other variants and there “is no evidence of an increase in disease severity directly associated with EG.5”.

HOW FAST IS 'ERIS' SPREADING?

EG.5 had been found in more than 50 countries as of August 8, according to the WHO. It is the most common and fastest-growing Covid-19 subvariant in the US, estimated to be responsible for about 17% of current Covid-19 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In the US hospitalisations related to Covid-19 are up more than 40% from lows hit in June, but are more than 90% below peak levels hit during the January 2022 Omicron outbreak, according to CDC data.

The amount of virus identified in wastewater around the US and the number of weekly prescriptions for the Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid have all risen significantly over the past month, albeit from low levels.

WHEN WILL THE NEW BOOSTER BE AVAILABLE?

Pfizer/BioNTech SE, Moderna and Novavax have all created new versions of their vaccines updated to target another Omicron sublineage, XBB.1.5, to more closely resemble the circulating strains of the virus.

EG.5 is similar to XBB.1.5, although the newer subvariant carries one mutation to its spike protein, the part of the virus targeted by the vaccine.

XBB.1.5 emerged in late 2022 and was responsible for more than 10% of infections as of August 5, according to CDC estimates.

CDC director Dr Mandy Cohen said in a recent interview she expects the new vaccines to be widely available in the US by the third or fourth week in September.

Cohen did not address the “Eris” variant specifically, but said “what we're seeing with the changes in the viruses, they're still susceptible to our vaccine, they're still susceptible to our medicines, they're still picked up by the tests. So all our tools still work as the virus changes”.

Reuters