In just over a month since a new COVID variant known as BQ.1 was first named, that strain and a descendant called BQ.1.1 have already grown to make up more than 10% of new infections across the country, according to updated estimates published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "When you get variants like that, you look at what their rate of increase is as a relative proportion of the variants, and this has a pretty troublesome doubling time," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president's chief medical adviser, said in an interview with CBS News. It comes as federal health authorities have been bracing for a widely-expected resurgence of COVID-19 this fall and winter. BQ.1 variants have already outpaced many rival strains in European nations from England to Germany, which have already seen renewed waves begin.
BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 each currently make up an estimated 5.7% of infections around the country, the agency said. The remainder of BA.5, which had dominated a wave of cases over the summer, has shrunk to 67.9% of circulating variants. "While BQ.1 and BQ.1.1. represent a small but fast-growing subset of the Omicron variant, BA.5 remains the dominant lineage in the United States," CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund said in a statement. BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 also appear on track to overtake the only other strain that still outnumbers them: BA.4.6, which currently makes up 12.2% of infections.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vari ... estimates/More than 14.7 million Americans have so far gotten an updated COVID booster, which includes a component aimed at the BQ.1's parent BA.5. That works out to around 7% of the 209 million who were initially eligible for the shots when they were first greenlighted last month. However, after accelerating in the wake of the initial booster rollout, figures published late Thursday by the CDC show the daily pace of new COVID shots is now slowing.
Hot spots for this variant in the US are New York and New Jersey. Forewarned is forearmed as the saying goes.
Wonder if we'll get another booster in March 2023, like we did in March of this year a six month interval.