JN.1, HV.1 COVID-19 Variants Spread Ahead of Holidays – AARP

A new crop of coronavirus variants is sweeping the U.S., just as many Americans are hitting the roads and skies to be with friends and family for the holidays.

Health officials are keeping a close eye on the fast-growing JN.1 strain, which now accounts for roughly 21 percent of COVID-19 cases in the country, up from about 3.5 percent a few weeks ago. In the Northeast, JN.1 is to blame for more than 30 percent of coronavirus infections, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicts that its presence will only continue to increase nationwide.

The JN.1 variant, a close relative of the highly mutated BA.2.86, isnt the only one gaining steam. While HV.1 continues to be responsible for the biggest share of COVID infections, strains like HK.3, JG.3 and JD.1.1 are also spreading.

We know this virus is changing, and it has changed again, CDC Director Mandy Cohen, M.D., said in a recent briefing. You want to get that updated COVID vaccine for this exact reason.

Similar to how the flu shot is updated each year to target new strains, the COVID-19 vaccine was recently revamped to more closely match the variants that are currently circulating. So far, public health experts say its remained effective against JN.1 and other variants in the mix.

If youre relying on last years COVID-19 shot to protect you from this years variants, thats like having a vaccine that was for an apple, and now we're seeing oranges, says Jodie Guest, a professor and senior vice chair in the department of epidemiology at Emory Universitys Rollins School of Public Health. So we want to make sure you're getting the most recent type of vaccine, so we'll be able to protect you the best.

But uptake of the new COVID-19 vaccine has been low since the shot was approved in September about 17 percent of adults have received it, CDC estimates show leaving many Americans without optimal protection as we head into winter.

All this while COVID-19 hospitalizations are increasing in the U.S., climbing nearly 18 percent in recent weeks. Deaths from the virus are also rising; rates are up 25 percent in recent weeks, federal data shows.

Theres no indication that JN.1 and the other new variants are causing more severe infections, the CDC says. Rather, this trend is quite expected this time of year, says William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville.

Each winter in the past that COVID has been with us, we've had increases, he says, hand-in-hand with spikes in other respiratory illnesses. Data from the CDC shows that in addition to COVID-19, activity is picking up for flu and RSV throughout the country. In particular, several states in the South are reporting high or very high respiratory illness activity levels.

Respiratory illness activity levels in the U.S. Data as of Dec. 7, 2023.

Courtesy CDC

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JN.1, HV.1 COVID-19 Variants Spread Ahead of Holidays - AARP