Should we worry about the XE variant? Maybe not yet, but 'hybrids' will become more frequent as COVID evolves
- Written by: Jemma Geoghegan, Senior Lecturer and Associate Scientist at ESR, University of Otago
GettyImagesA new hybrid COVID-19 variant dubbed XE has sparked fresh concerns recently.
XE is a combination of the highly transmissible BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron variants and was first detected in the UK in mid-January. Its spike protein derives from BA.2, which is potentially good news for New Zealand since this is the dominant variant (more than 90%...