TAMPA, Fla. — “We know there’s a new variant,” said Dr. Nkem Uzo with AdventHealth.
FLiRT variants make up a new group of COVID-19 mutations that are offshoots of the JN.1 variant, which has been the dominant strain in the US for months.
They’re all part of the larger omicron family.
“That name just came from a chance, you know, just some amino acid changes. It has a couple of new mutations in the spike proteins that gave it that nice name,” said Dr. Jill Roberts, Associate Professor at the USF College of Public Health.
Health officials are closely tracking these new FLiRT variants because currently, COVID-19 levels are some of the lowest they’ve been in the US since the start of the pandemic.
“We haven’t seen the uptick, so there’s no wave coming yet,” said Uzo.
That could change as this new group of mutations might threaten that downturn.
Experts believe it’s possible they could be responsible for some kind of spike this summer, although they’re not sure exactly how big it will be.
“I won’t be surprised if we see a bit of a bump in the cases during the summer,” said Roberts.
According to the latest CDC data, one of the FLiRT variants, KP.2, is already making up 28.2% of cases in the country.
Some studies suggest that the mutations of the FLiRT variants make them more transmissible, especially since it’s been several months since most people had their last booster shot.
“There’s a study that says maybe our vaccines may not provide as great of immunity against it because it’s slightly different from what we’re vaccinating against. All those things are to be expected as variants continue to change,” said Roberts.
This comes at a time of year when vaccine advisers work to fine-tune the new COVID-19 shot for the fall.
The FDA has postponed its May meeting to wait and see which of the FLiRT variants should be included in the vaccine formula.
“The vaccine is easy to actually change. So if it turns out this does become a major player, the vaccines and especially what we do in the fall can actually answer that, and it can change along with the variants coming out,” said Roberts.
