Omicron (including subvariants)
Omicron is the current strain of coronavirus in circulation. Experts advise it’s very contagious, which explains how it outcompeted the Delta virus. Its subvariants continue to change, leading to even more iterations of the variant.
The current vaccines cover a pretty wide range of COVID variants, but some vaccines don’t necessarily protect against all of them. Moreover, current Omicron subvariants can infect fairly quickly, and the current vaccine does less well than experts would like at preventing infection altogether.
However, it still helps with this, and it’s pretty effective at preventing severe disease and death. That’s why doctors recommend getting it. Major subvariants at this time in the US are HV.1, EG.5, FL.1.5.1, and XBB1.16.6. Specialists say the current COVID boosters are very effective against HV.1 and EG.5.
