This variant has been reported in at least 11 European countries, after emerging in Germany.
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A new one Covid-19 variantwhich is beginning to spread in Europe, could soon become the dominant variant, according to medical specialists.
The XEC variant is a hybrid of the older omicron subvariants KS.1.1 and KP.3.3. But its mutations could help it spread more easily this fall, experts say.
However, according to a spokesperson for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), XEC does not meet the criteria, at least for now, that would make it a variant of concern that would merit the attention of public health authorities.
“A very limited number of XEC cases have been reported to date,” said the spokesman.
Scientists first identified the variant in Berlin last June, and it has since been detected in at least 11 European countries, and four more worldwide.
So far, the XEC variant has accounted for at least 1% of all samples sequenced in Slovenia, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, according to data from the US non-profit Scripps Research Institute, updated earlier this month.
It has also been identified in the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Ireland, Sweden, Italy and Spain.
Get vaccinated before winter
The virus samples submitted for genomic sequencing do not directly represent cases circulating in the population, and not all laboratories are sequencing at the same rate. This analysis therefore has a bias.
This means that the strains that appear in the sequencing data “may not represent the true prevalence of mutations in the population,” according to Scripps Research.
Even so, these data can provide early clues about how the virus is evolving, giving researchers and medical agencies time to decide whether specific countermeasures, such as vaccine modifications, or public health recommendations, are needed.
Experts believe current Covid-19 vaccines should be effective against the XEC variant, according to BBC News.
“We believe that the XEC variant will have similar properties to currently circulating variants, without changing the severity of infection or vaccine efficacy against severe disease,” an ECDC spokesperson told Euronews Next.
The ECDC recommends getting vaccinated before the winter season, as protection wanes over time.
“Vaccination is the most effective measure to protect against the most serious forms of COVID-19 and seasonal flu”, summarizes the ECDC.
