Rising Concerns Over New Highly Contagious COVID Variant Ahead of Holidays

A new COVID-19 subvariant called JN.1 has emerged in Pennsylvania and is responsible for an increasing share of coronavirus hospitalizations as the winter holidays approach. JN.1 currently accounts for 14.1 percent of all cases in the CDC's five-state area, second only to the dominant HV.1 variant. Public health officials are concerned about JN.1 as vaccination coverage remains low. However, there is no evidence that JN.1 causes more severe symptoms than other strains. Vaccination and adherence to preventive measures, such as masking and hand hygiene, are recommended to protect against the variant.