In the space of a few months, it has spread to 27 countries, notably in Europe and the United States, where it is gaining ground. Although its overall impact remains uncertain, XEC appears to have a slight advantage in transmission. However, current vaccines should continue to offer effective protection, emphasizing the importance of vaccination, especially for the most vulnerable.
According to Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, XEC is a crossover between subvariants KS.1.1 and KP.3.3, from BA.2.86, a lineage of Omicron. Since its discovery, this variant has become more prevalent, particularly in Germany, Denmark, France and the United Kingdom, and could soon supplant the currently dominant KP.3.1.1 variant.
Despite this progression, health authorities, such as the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), believe that it is still too early to determine with certainty the extent of the threat posed by XEC. No data currently allows us to confirm that this variant presents greater severity or better immune evasion. It therefore appears similar to its predecessors, without posing a more serious threat.
Dr. Topol emphasizes thatXEC’s rise could take several more weeks, if not months, before potentially causing a new global wave. For their part, health authorities insist on the importance of vaccination, in particular faced with the gradual decline in the protection conferred by previous injections and infections. For Public Health France, the vaccination strategy remains essential, particularly for the most vulnerable, in the face of the constant evolution of Covid-19 variants.
