Rapidly Spreading 'Pirola' Covid Variant BA.2.86: What You Need to Know

The Pirola variant, also known as BA.2.86, is now the third most prevalent Covid strain in the U.S., making up 8.8% of cases as of November 25. While concerns have been raised about the effectiveness of the new monovalent vaccines against Pirola, both Pfizer-BioNTech and Novavax have stated that their vaccines offer some protection. A clinical trial by Moderna found that their latest shot provided an 8.7-fold increase in protection. The CDC considers the public health risk posed by Pirola to be low, and updated vaccines are expected to increase protection against the variant. However, some experts are uncertain about the level of protection offered by the new vaccines against Pirola and its subvariants.