August 18, 2023
Over the past few days, scientists throughout the world have
increasingly sounded the alarm over the emergence of a new variant of
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Identified as BA.2.86 and given the
nickname “Pirola,” the variant has 35 mutations on the spike protein that
distinguish it from Omicron XBB.1.5, the most recent variant that was dominant
globally and for which the next iteration of vaccines have been designed.
