A new variant of COVID-19 may be driving up cases in some parts of the
world, WHO says
[May 29, 2025]
By CARLA K. JOHNSON
COVID-19 cases are rising again as a new variant begins to circulate in
some parts of the world. The World Health Organization said Wednesday
the rise in cases is primarily in the eastern Mediterranean, Southeast
Asia and western Pacific regions.
Airport screening in the United States has detected the new variant in
travelers arriving from those regions to destinations in California,
Washington state, Virginia and New York.
The new variant is called NB.1.8.1. It arrives as the United States’
official stance on COVID-19 vaccination is changing. On Tuesday, Health
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that COVID-19 shots are no
longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women — a move
immediately questioned by several public health experts.
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 The new variant, increasing
globally, had by mid-May reached nearly 11% of sequenced samples
reported. The WHO has designated it a “variant under monitoring” and
considers the public health risk low at the global level with
current vaccines expected to remain effective.
The WHO said some western Pacific countries have
reported increases in COVID cases and hospitalizations, but there’s
nothing so far to suggest that the disease associated with the new
variant is more severe compared to other variants.
The variant called LP.8.1 is currently the dominant version in the
U.S. and globally. ___
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