BA.2.86, nicknamed ‘Pilola’ by scientists on social media, is ‘closely tracked’ by WHO
Israel on Sunday confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus variant BA.2.86, dubbed “Pilola” on social media by scientists.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said in Thursday’s pandemic bulletin that it had classified the new variant under surveillance “because it contains a large number (more than 30) of spike gene mutations.”
The new variant contains 36 mutations from the currently dominant XBB.1.5 strain.
Omicron’s subvariant XBB.1.5 is a vaccine target strain for future COVID-19 boosters.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that “further learning about BA.2.86 does not change the CDC’s advice for protecting yourself from COVID-19.”
Since the world nearly reopened after the pandemic spread around the world in 2020, even more variants of the virus have emerged, among them the EG.5 variant called “Eris”. is also included.
