WHO Deems New COVID Strain a ‘Variant Under Monitoring' Amid Resurgence in China
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'Currently approved COVID-19 vaccines are expected to remain effective to this variant against symptomatic and severe disease,' the WHO said. 'Despite a concurrent increase in cases and hospitalizations in some countries where NB.1.8.1 is widespread, current data do not indicate that this variant leads to more severe illness than other variants in circulation.'
The WHO
WHO's May 23 update noted that NB.1.8.1 appears to be 'growing rapidly compared to co-circulating variants' and added that 'while there are reported increases in cases and hospitalizations' in reporting countries, 'there are no reports to suggest that the associated disease severity is higher as compared to other circulating variants.' The WHO document did not specifically name any countries that may be reporting the variant.
'The available evidence on NB.1.8.1 does not suggest additional public health risks relative to the other currently circulating Omicron descendent lineages,' said the WHO, referring to a previous COVID-19 variant that emerged in late 2021.
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5/22/2025
5/22/2025
The update comes as health experts
In one example, Dr. Li Tongzeng, director of the Infectious Diseases Department at Beijing You'an Hospital, told Chinese state-run media that the resurgence of COVID-19, which began in March, is expected to peak sometime later in May.
Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has faced long-standing accusations of concealing data around the virus, particularly regarding the death toll. The virus first emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. The Trump administration in April
Dr. Jonathan Liu, a professor at the Canadian College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and director of Kang Mei TCM Clinic and skeptic of data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, noted that official data for March reported that only seven people died from COVID-19 during that month.
'With normal epidemic rates, such a low figure is implausible,' Liu told The Epoch Times last week. 'Canada, with a sparse population and good sanitation, reported 1,915 COVID deaths from August last year to May this year—over 200 per month. How could China, with its dense population, have only seven deaths monthly?'
The Epoch Times has reached out to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for comment on the WHO report and reports that NB.1.8.1 is circulating in the United States.
A spokesperson for the CDC told several news outlets on Saturday that 'there have been fewer than 20 sequences of NB.1.8.1 in the U.S. baseline surveillance data to date, so it has not met the threshold for inclusion in the COVID Data Tracker dashboard.'
Mary Man contributed to this report.
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'I actually had two parents today ask if their 7- or 8-year-olds could get the HPV shot,' Greenhouse said. 'I had to tell them it's not allowed.' With the vaccine requiring multiple doses months apart, Greenhouse fears time may run out for families to get the series covered by insurance. If they have to pay out-of-pocket, she's afraid some families may choose not to get the second dose. A second dose could cost about $300 if no longer covered by insurance. 'I cannot be 100% sure what the future looks like for some of these vaccines,' Greenhouse said. 'I can tell you it's a very scary place to be.' Kennedy's newly appointed vaccine advisory committee is expected to hold its next public meeting as soon as August. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
