Covid-19 variant ‘Nimbus' with ‘razor blade throat' symptom spreads in California – should you worry?

Mint

20-06-2025

A new Covid-19 variant – NB.1.8.1 or 'Nimbus' – may be driving a recent rise in cases in some parts of the world. The rise is cases in primarily seen in eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and western Pacific regions, the World Health Organization said on May 28. The new variant had reached nearly 11 per cent of sequenced samples reported globally in mid-May, an AP report said on Wednesday.
Airport screening in the United States detected the new variant in travelers arriving from those regions to destinations in California, Washington state, Virginia and New York.
You aren't likely to get sicker from this variant than others. The WHO said some western Pacific countries have reported increases in Covid cases and hospitalisations, but there's nothing so far to suggest that the disease associated with the new variant is more severe compared to other variants, the report added.
The variant has earned a new nickname – 'razor blade throat' Covid. That's because the variant may cause painful sore throats. The symptom has been identified by doctors in the United Kingdom, India and elsewhere, according to various media outlets.
According to the AP report, other Covid-19 symptoms of any variant include fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath or loss of taste or smell. Experts say there isn't major cause for concern with the Nimbus variant.
The WHO has designated Nimbus as a 'variant under monitoring' and considers the public health risk low at the global level. Current vaccines are expected to remain effective.
A US government scientist who oversees the team responsible for collecting data on Covid-19 and RSV hospitalisations used to shape national vaccine policy has resigned, citing concerns over how such data would be used by the Trump administration.
The scientist, Dr Fiona Havers, told colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday that she no longer had confidence that the Covid and RSV data would be used "objectively or evaluated with appropriate scientific rigor to make evidence-based vaccine policy decisions," according to an email seen by Reuters.
Havers, leader of the RESP-NET Hospitalization Surveillance Team, did not respond to requests for comment.
Her resignation follows moves by Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. to abruptly fire all 17 members of the CDC's independent vaccine advisory panel and drop a recommendation for administering Covid shots to healthy children and pregnant women.
Kennedy, who has long sown doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines, replaced the advisory board with eight members of his own choosing, some of whom have histories of objecting to Covid shots or vaccines in general.