Registered nurse Melissa Dewolfe checks the temperature of a person at the main entrance of Deaconess Gateway Hospital in Newburgh, Ind., Wednesday afternoon, April 22, 2020. Two hospital employees are stationed at the main entrance to survey visitors by asking a set of COVID-19 related health questions, checking temperatures and then providing each person a cloth mask and hand sanitizer before letting them walk by.
San Diego, California – A newly detected, highly transmissible COVID-19 variant has been confirmed in California and several other states, raising concern among health officials as the federal government announces significant changes to vaccine policy. The variant, labeled NB.1.8.1, was first identified in international travelers arriving in the U.S. and has now been confirmed in California, Washington, Virginia, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Hawaii.
California’s first known case of the NB.1.8.1 variant was detected on April 17 by scientists at the Stanford Clinical Virology Laboratory. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), additional infections were confirmed through airport screenings and state-level health department reports. The variant is believed to be responsible for a major surge in COVID-19 cases across China and is spreading rapidly across parts of Asia and Europe. In Hong Kong, officials have reported the highest levels of COVID-19 activity in a year, including spikes in emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
Despite the spread of NB.1.8.1, federal officials announced last week that updated COVID-19 vaccine doses this fall will be limited to individuals aged 65 and older or those with underlying health conditions. This decision marks a sharp departure from previous guidance, which had encouraged broader vaccination coverage, particularly among vulnerable groups, such as children and pregnant women.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed Tuesday that he will no longer recommend booster shots for healthy children and pregnant individuals. The decision contradicts current medical guidance from pediatricians and the FDA, which continue to list pregnancy and infancy as high-risk conditions for COVID-19 complications.
Officials say the policy shift reflects a new strategy aimed at targeting vaccines where they are most urgently needed. Dr. Vinay Prasad, director of the FDA’s vaccine division, stated that the agency would prioritize approval for high-risk groups while demanding more robust data for low-risk populations. However, many public health experts have expressed concern that narrowing eligibility could leave millions without adequate protection, especially amid the emergence of a highly contagious new variant.
NB.1.8.1 appears to cause symptoms similar to previous strains — including cough, sore throat, fever, and fatigue — but is more contagious. Data from the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) database shows U.S. cases stemmed from travelers coming from countries including China, Japan, France, Vietnam, and Thailand between April 22 and May 12.
While the FDA weighs its final decision on which strain to target in this fall’s vaccine rollout, officials continue to urge basic precautions such as mask-wearing in crowded settings and staying home when ill, especially as the country enters its typical summer COVID-19 surge period.
