(WXYZ) — The coronavirus is constantly evolving, and a new variant was detected in Southern France.
The new variant is called IHU. This variant was discovered in November around the same time that Omicron was detected in France. According to the World Health Organization, the variant is under monitorization. It has been reported that only 12 people have been contracted IHU.
There is no certainty that this pandemic will fizzle out when COVID-19 is constantly evolving. If we look at what’s going on in South Africa - where the numbers have drastically dropped, and in the UK - where it looks like Omicron may have peaked, we could see the same thing happen here in the next month.
A new vaccine is being developed, and it’s called the pan coronavirus vaccine. Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research are currently working on this. This vaccine potentially could defend against all coronavirus variants that exist and protect against potential future variants. Right now, it looks promising, but the vaccine is only in Phase I.
In the meantime, we need to be extra vigilant. Case numbers are expected to get worse in the coming weeks. I don’t want people to think, “I’m going to get this anyway, so what I do doesn’t matter.” That is not true. We can all do our part to help keep our hospitals from being overrun with sick patients. Everyone needs to follow pandemic precautions. Get vaccinated and then boosted because this helps prevent severe infections and slows the spread of the virus.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.