Pfizer Inc said on Thursday its updated Covid-19 vaccine, which is being tested against emerging variants, showed neutralizing activity against the “Eris” subvariant in a study conducted on mice.
Pfizer, along with its German partner BioNTech SE, along with Covid-19 vaccine brands Moderna and Novavax, have created versions of their shots aimed at the XBB. 1. 5 subvariant.
EG. 5, nicknamed by some “Eris”, belongs to the XBB. 1. 5 subvariant and a sublineage of the still dominant Omicron variant.
EG. 5 accounted for about 17% of COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to the most recent data.
In the U. S. , Covid-19 hospitalizations have increased more than 40% since recent lows in June, but still more than 90% are below peak levels reached during the January 2022 Omicron outbreak.
EG. 5 has also been detected in China, South Korea, Japan and Canada, among other countries.
The World Health Organization has classified EG. 5 as a “variant of interest,” indicating that it should be monitored more closely than others because of mutations that can make it more contagious or severe.