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New COVID variants are spreading in New Jersey. Is another surge on tap this winter?


New COVID variants are spreading in New Jersey. Is another surge on tap this winter?

Courier Post, November 3, 2022

The BA.5 omicron subvariant has been the dominant strain in New Jersey since July, but newer variants are slowly pushing it out. Health experts say the new bivalent booster should provide some protection against severe illness from the newest strains. “Any protection is better than no protection,” said Kenneth Plante, associate director of the World Reference Center for Emerging Viruses and Arboviruses at the University of Texas Medical Branch. “It is too early to say that vaccination can protect you from more serious illness in the context of these new variants. But if history teaches us anything, it will likely do so.”