Highly infectious new Covid strain spreads to US as vaccine advice changes

A new Covid strain that led to a massive spike in hospitalisations in China has spread to the US, as the country updated its vaccine advice.

A new, highly infectious COVID-19 strain that has led to a spike in hospitalisation in China has now been detected in the US, including cases in New York City, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new NB.1.81 variant was first detected in the US in late March and early April among international travellers arriving at airports in California, Washington State, Virginia and New York City, with additional cases reported in Ohio, Rhode Island and Hawaii.

The CDC has said there are too few cases in the US to be properly tracked in the agency’s variant estimates, but experts are warning that the virus’ run in China shows it spreads more quickly than other dominant strains of the respiratory infection.

Experts have been closely tracking the NB.1.8.1 variant after it became the dominant strain in China this year, with cases surging all across Asia.

There have been reports of it driving an increase in hospitalisations in Western Australia.

Hong Kong authorities say COVID-19 cases have spiked to the worst levels in at least a year after officials announced a “significant increase” in emergency room visits and hospitalisation in the last month due to the variant.

A new strain of Covid has been detected in the US. Picture: NIAID/Alamy

That included 81 severe cases in the past four weeks, including 30 deaths. The vast majority of the cases were in adults 65 and up.

In mainland China, the portion of patients going to the ER with Covid has more than doubled in the last month — from 7.5 per cent to more than 16 per cent, public health authorities said. The portion of people in the hospital for Covid in China also doubled, to more than six per cent, according to the state-run China Daily.

How bad is this variant?

Despite the stats, the Beijing-controlled government in Hong Kong downplayed the variant, saying it does not appear to be more dangerous than previous variants.

“What they’re seeing in China, Hong Kong and some other areas where this variant has really surged, is an increase in hospitalisation,” Dr. Amy Edwards, a professor of pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University’s medical school, told CBS News.

The CDC’s airport tests revealed the extent of the virus’ spread as the travellers who were infected with the variant travelled through China, Japan, South Korea, France, Thailand, the Netherlands, Spain, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Like other forms of COVID-19, the variant can cause coughing, a sore throat, fever and fatigue.

Subhash Verma, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Nevada, however, noted that the new variant “appears to have a growth advantage, suggesting it may spread more easily.”

“In other words, it is more transmissible,” she told CBS news.

Both Verma and Edwards said that the strain does not appear to be more severe — at least so far.

Dr Edwin Tsui, the head of Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP), said that the new variant “should not be taken lightly,” warning Chinese health officials and others around the world that evidence suggests the virus may have evolved to even further evade the protections of the Covid vaccines.

The CHP will continue to closely monitor the situation of the variant strains in accordance with the World Health Organisation’s recommendation, and be cautious of the possible emergence of more virulent or vaccine-mismatched strains of the virus in the future,” he said in a statement.

Trump administration changes vaccine advice

American Minister of Health Robert Kennedy Jr has announced changes to America’s vaccine advice. (Magali Girardin/Keystone via AP)

The US will no longer recommend Covid-19 vaccines for children and healthy pregnant women, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday, calling it a “common sense” decision grounded in sound science.

The change follows last week’s announcement by Food and Drug Administration officials that they would limit approval of Covid shots - a critical tool in ending the pandemic - to adults aged 65 and older, as well as younger individuals with underlying health conditions.

Trump administration officials have framed the shift as bringing the US into closer alignment with countries like Britain, Germany and France where annual boosters are recommended only for the elderly and immunocompromised.

But it comes as Kennedy - who has long promoted misinformation about vaccines in general and the Covid shots in particular - pushes to overhaul federal public health policy.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to announce that as of today, the Covid vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommended immunisation schedule,” he said in a video posted to X.

FDA officials also said vaccine manufacturers will need to conduct new clinical trials - including comparisons against a saline placebo - if they wish to retain approval for use in healthy people under 65.

These recent changes have drawn criticism.

Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University, told AFP last week that while the new approach matched that taken by other countries, “I do think, however, that the initial Covid-19 vaccine series should be part of routine childhood immunisation.” Paul Offit, a top vaccine expert at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, warned the change could restrict access for people who still want boosters, particularly under the US’s privatised health care system, where insurers may decline coverage.

The reversal on pregnant women marks a major departure from previous CDC guidance.

As of Tuesday morning, the agency’s website - which had yet to reflect Kennedy’s announcement - still stated that pregnant women are among people for whom it is “especially important” to receive the vaccine.

“If you are pregnant or were recently pregnant, you are more likely to get very sick from COVID-19 compared to those who are not pregnant,” it says.

- New York Post with AFP