Officials are hopeful that the XBB variant won’t bring about a new, deadly COVID spike.

Friday’s announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that they are now monitoring a COVID-19 variant of worry in the U.S. called XBB. It has grown to be responsible for 3.1% of all new infections in the country. 

According to weekly estimates from the CDC, the Northeast has seen the highest increase in this strain. This week’s “Nowcast,” from the CDC, shows that XBB is linked to more than 5% of the infections in New Jersey and Maine.

XBB is responsible in large numbers of infections in South Asian countries. It also accounts for an increasing percentage of reported virus sequences and international traveler arrivals. 

The CDC released preliminary estimates this month suggesting that XBB may be increasing in proportion every 12 hours. It could go faster than the current pace at which the BQ.1 variants are dominating across the country.

But, experts and top COVID officials from the Biden administration claim they Don’t think! XBB is a new threat that will increase the danger level of the Omicron variant’s first appearance a year back.

“Where we’ve had surges, it’s been mostly driven by seasonality, people spending more time around each other, but not by the emergence a new variant,” Ian Williams, CDC’s emergency response coordinator, said to a meeting of CDC preparedness advisors. 

XBB is among several new lineages which have replaced BA.4/BA.5, Omicron variant siblings, who were responsible for a large number of cases in the summer. The CDC reports that BA.5 is now less than 1 in 5 new infections nationally, and BA.4 has virtually disappeared.

The strain’s emergence also occurs at a time when most areas, including the Northeast have relatively slowing or flat COVID-19 hospitalizations. 

According to data released by the agency Friday, 34% of Americans currently live in countries deemed “low” COVID-19 Communities Levels. These levels are the lowest level recommended precautions by the agency.

“But, there is a lot to be worried about a new variant emerging and reviving the cycle. Williams said that there is a lot to be done in order to make sure we are prepared. He also suggested that we should keep an eye out for new variants emerging around the globe and watch for them.

A “recombinant” strain

First named by scientists back in September, XBB is believed to be a “recombinant” of two different Omicron subvariants – BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 – that emerged earlier this year. This strain is one of a number that has been identified as the most dominant, and could be used to evade COVID antibodies.

“There has been a rapid increase in XBB but it doesn’t seem like it’s particularly severe than other variants,” Derek Smith of the Center for Pathogen Evolution, University of Cambridge told CBS News in a late-December interview.

Smith leads the National Institutes of Health’s efforts to detect and analyze variants as soon they emerge. This is part of an “Avengers-Like” program, which spans several federal agencies in America and outside experts. 

“XBB”, it caught our attention. We prioritized it even though it was a small number. This was because it contained quite a few substitutions, which were not found in other viruses currently in circulation. [receptor-binding domain]Smith explained that the escape variant might have been a possibility.

Early on, scientists at the NIH ordered supplies to make mock-ups for XBB in order to compare it to other strains. 

The data suggests that the new COVID boosters offer some protection against the strain.

Pfizer and BioNTech published a study this month which was not peer reviewed. It found that the updated COVID booster appears to be more effective in triggering antibody responses against the XBB strain. 

However, it was also claimed by the company’s scientists that it was the variant that received the most neutralization from their shot.

It doesn’t go away, but it does go down. You could expect some protection but not optimal protection,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday during a White House briefing.