CDC reports 16% US cases of covid strains BQ.1, BQ 1.1: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday that BQ.1 and its sibling BQ.1.1 make up 16.6% of all coronavirus variants circulating in the country.
The new strains BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 have spread quickly across the country in the past few weeks, especially in New York.
The CDC says that BQ.1 used to make up 5.8% of all the different types, while BQ.1.1 made up 3.6% of all the different types.
The Omicron BA.5 subvariant, the most prevalent Covid-19 variant in the nation, is the ancestor of both variants. Recently, US officials approved vaccination boosters that target it.
Weekly cases in the US have lately been down, but hospitalizations are increasing this week but are still down from prior weeks.
Vaccine makers and regulators close their eyes on new strains in case they start to get around the protection that injections give.