JN.1 was first detected in the US in September, according to the CDC.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday classified the JN.1 coronavirus strain as a “variant of interest”, but said it did not pose much threat to public health.
“Based on the available evidence, the additional global public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently evaluated as low,” WHO said.
JN.1 was previously classified as a variant of interest as a part of its parent lineage BA.2.86.
The United Nations agency said current vaccines continue to protect against severe disease and death from JN.1 and other circulating variants of the COVID-19 virus.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earlier this month said that the subvariant JN.1 makes up about an estimated 15% to 29% of cases in the United States as of Dec. 8, according to the agency’s latest projections.
It added that currently there is no evidence that JN.1 presents an increased risk to public health relative to other currently circulating variants and an updated shot could keep Americans protected against the variant.
JN.1 was first detected in the US in September, according to the CDC.
Last week, China detected seven infections of the COVID subvariant.
Waiting for response to load…
The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the JN.1 coronavirus strain as a “variant of interest” but stated that it does not pose a significant threat to public health. JN.1 was first detected in the US in September and was previously classified as a variant of interest as part of its parent lineage BA.2.86. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), JN.1 accounts for about 15% to 29% of COVID-19 cases in the United States as of December 8. However, there is currently no evidence suggesting that JN.1 presents an increased risk compared to other circulating variants, and existing vaccines continue to protect against severe disease and death caused by this strain. The WHO emphasized that the global public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently considered low. Lastly, it is worth mentioning that China has also detected seven infections of the COVID subvariant recently.
