Chin-Hong said the variant is a so-called recombinant of two other strains — KS.1.1 and KP.3.3 — meaning that genetic information was exchanged between them to form a third strain, XEC, Chin-Hong said. Is the XEC variant more contagious? Chan School of Public Health, said there’s no evidence yet that the XEC variant is much more transmissible than what’s currently circulating. The variant is closely related to KP.2, the strain targeted by the updated vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. Bright, however, cautioned that clinical data is ultimately needed to determine how well the updated vaccines work against the XEC variant.

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Persons: “, ”, Peter Chin, ” XEC, we’re, Rick Bright, Hong, Bill Hanage, ” Hanage, It’s, XEC, Hanage, “ It’s, Marc Johnson, Johnson, There’s, ” Chin, ” Johnson, ” Bright Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, University of California, Biomedical, Research, Development Authority, Department of Health, Human Services, CDC, Harvard, of Public Health, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Pfizer, Moderna Locations: United States, San Francisco, Europe, Chin, U.S, Chan, Germany, Netherlands, France