A new hybrid variant of covid, XEC, has emerged in 25 states in the United States and experts predict that it will cause an increase in cases this fall, so it is important that barriers be removed so that more Latinos have access to vaccines .
During the video conference “Covid-19 cases are on the rise, while vaccination rates remain low”, organized by Ethnic Media Services, several medical experts on the subject spoke about the new variant, the updated vaccines, and explained the reasons of low vaccination rates in Latino and African American communities.
Features of the new variant
The updated mRNA vaccines—Pfizer and Moderna—are now available, along with the reformulated Novavax vaccine. The question is, are the new vaccines capable of detecting and protecting against XEC?
Dr. Peter Chin Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, said XEC is a recombinant variant of two others, KS 1.1. and KP 3.3.
“It has a mutation that we don’t know much about, but essentially, the reason people are paying attention is that it seemed to rise particularly in Germany, where it represents about 15% of cases, in the United Kingdom, on l 7 % and in the United States, it hasn’t really reached that level yet, but it could come in the winter and be a little more transmissible.”
But he considered that it will not cause serious problems, because immunity is generally high.
“The most important thing is to get vaccinated, to protect yourself from getting seriously ill, from hospitalization and death.”
He said that over the four years, they have been seeing more diverse symptoms with Covid, as people have different degrees of immunity.
“One that has attracted attention this year is gastrointestinal symptoms; “And people do not normally associate diarrhea or nausea and vomiting with covid.”
But in general, what has been seen are common symptoms such as sore throat and headache, muscle discomfort; and in some people, difficulty breathing.
He specified that the dominant subvariant in the United States at this time is KP 3.1, and is responsible for about 50% of the cases.
“It’s part of the Omicron family, and somehow it figured out what to do to stay in the population, spread very successfully, and keep mutating.”
Updated vaccines
Dr. and biology professor at Texas A&M University, Benjamin Neuman, said that from a scientific point of view, the new updated mRNA and Nova vaccines protect for just under six months, usually for four months, and that’s only because the virus changes.
“It’s not that the vaccine is bad or anything like that. “Probably the FDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) should update this vaccine twice a year, until we reach a point where you really have a single immunization and the reasonable certainty of not getting infected throughout the year.”
He said as things stand, there are two options.
“The two mRNA vaccines are essentially the same. The Novavax is a protein vaccine, and it is against the older variant called JN.1, and the version that they seem to be using would have peaked around March of this year, and has been more or less extinct since the summer.
So he said there are likely to be more benefits from one of the two mRNA vaccines, simply because they are a little closer in time to the virus that is circulating.
“No one knows what the future will hold if the virus decides to take a left turn and return to something more like JN.1, in which case the Novavax vaccine will be superior in terms of protection.”
He pointed out that we must take into account that for many of us, it may have been a year, two or three years since the last time we were vaccinated or infected.
“This is not like the childhood polio vaccine, where you can take one dose and then relax for the rest of your life. Therefore, I would say that if there are people who are thinking about getting vaccinated against covid, it is important not to wait for next spring to arrive.
“Getting vaccinated now will allow you to get through the holiday season, hopefully, without harm to you and your loved ones.”
Latinos and vaccines
Dr. Daniel Turner-Lloveras, co-founder and executive director of Salud con Tech and the Latino Health Innovation Alliance, said the reasons why vaccination rates are very low among Latinos and African Americans have to do with language barriers, transportation, lack of reliable information and historical mistreatment by the health system.
“That is why we are bringing vaccines to the community to make them available because access is an ongoing problem; and the fact of having to pay for them is just another barrier.”
He said that if the goal is really to increase vaccination rates, then we could reconsider charging for the vaccine, or develop some type of program that makes it easier for certain populations to participate in special programs that pay for immunizations.
