A new strain of COVID-19, Pirola, is spreading around the world.

Active around the world distributed by coronavirus strain BA.2.86, named "Pirola" is a new omicron mutation. It first appeared in the US in August and was later spotted in Denmark, Israel, Canada, Sweden and the UK. World Health Organization (WHO) added him to the watch list in August - shortly after the new subspecies of omicron "Eris».

The organization cited the large number of mutations in this variant as a cause of concern - and, accordingly, significant differences from previous versions. The variant has about 30 mutations - a similar number was noted in the omicron compared to its predecessors. In the case of omicron, the differences were reflected in the faster spread of the virus.

Scientists were worried that the same thing would happen with Pirola: the virus would spread faster and bypass the immune system better. However, in recent weeks research showed that antibodies from vaccines and previous variants are not useless against it. Existing data suggest that a new surge in incidence at the omicron level should not occur. “Pirola” is spreading quite slowly: other variants of omicron remain dominant.

Scientists bow to the idea that the Pyrola mutations made it a weaker variant compared to the previous ones. It will be more difficult for the variant to spread, including due to weak resistance to vaccines.