Pfizer, along with its German partner BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE), as well as other COVID-19 vaccine makers Moderna (MRNA.O) and Novavax (NVAX.O) have created versions of their shots, which are aimed at the XBB.1.5 subvariant. EG.5, nicknamed by some as "Eris", is similar to the XBB.1.5 subvariant and a sub-lineage of the still-dominant Omicron variant. EG.5 accounted for about more than 17% of COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to the latest government data. In the United States, COVID-19 related hospitalizations are up more than 40% off of recent lows hit in June, but are still more than 90% below peak levels hit during the January 2022 Omicron outbreak. Reporting by Pratik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi MajumdarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

---

Persons: Chris Aluka Berry, BioNTech, Pratik Jain, Shilpi Majumdar Organizations: Dekalb Pediatric Center, REUTERS, Pfizer, Pfizer Inc, Moderna, EG, World Health Organization, Thomson Locations: Dekalb, Georgia, Decatur , Georgia, U.S, United States, China, South Korea, Japan, Canada, Bengaluru