Atlanta, May 23 -- A newly emerging COVID-19 variant, NB.1.8.1, is rapidly gaining ground across Asia and has now made its way into the United States - prompting scientists and health officials to reassess their vaccine playbook ahead of the coming winter season.
The variant, a descendant of the JN.1 lineage, has triggered a sharp spike in cases in China and is now showing up in passengers arriving at American airports, including those in California, Washington, Virginia and the New York area. Sequencing data from the CDC's airport screening programme, in partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks, reveals that infected travellers came from a wide range of countries - including Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, France, the Netherlands and Taiwan.
Though st...