What is JN.1? All about the new Covid variant detected in US

A new Covid variant - JN.1 - has been detected in 12 countries, including the United States (US). The variant, first detected in September, is not common in the US. In fact, JN.1 has been detected so rarely that it makes up fewer than 0.1 per cent of Covid cases, the country's national public health agency - CDC - said. The CDC has issued a detailed note on the latest variant, highlighting how it is different from previous variants and whether it will spread more widely.  

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A month before JN.1 was found, the scientists detected a new variant, BA.2.86 in August. Initially, this variant raised concerns that this might be more likely to spread and infect people, even people with immunity from vaccines and previous infections, the health agency said. "However, later scientific data showed that the BA.2.86 variant has not evaded our immunity or spread quickly."  

All about JN.1

The CDC said that even though BA.2.86 and JN.1 sound very different because of the way variants are named, there is only a single change between JN.1 and BA.2.86 in the spike protein. The spike protein plays a crucial role in helping the virus infect people. Because of this, the spike protein is also part of a virus that vaccines target, meaning vaccines should work against JN.1 and BA.2.86 similarly, the US health agency said.

The CDC further said that the updated Covid vaccines help immune systems block BA.2.86. "We expect JN.1 will be similar. We also expect treatments and testing to remain effective based on analysis conducted by the SARS-CoV-2 Interagency Group," the health agency wrote in its note.

While new variants like BA.2.86 and JN.1 attract attention, right now, 99 per cent of Covid variants are part of the XBB group of the Omicron variant, which is what this year's updated vaccines are based on. The health agency said that for as long as we have Covid, new variants will keep emerging.

"Nearly all represent relatively small changes compared with previous variants," the agency said, adding that it will alert the public quickly if anything concerning is detected. "Most of the time, new variants make little to no impact."

The CDC further said that regardless of the variant, all Covid viruses spread the same way.