Concern is being expressed about Covid LP.8.1 variant

The emergence of the CoV. LP. 8.1 variant has prompted apprehension among experts and institutions, given its predominance in the US and several other regions worldwide. The dissemination of the variant, beginning in February 2025, exhibited an accelerated growth trajectory, surpassing the prevalence of the XEC variant, which, at the time of its emergence in Europe, accounted for 50% of the sequences. LP.8.1 belongs to the extensive JN.1 family, which also includes XEC. The Emergency Task Force (ETF) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended that the next anti-Covid vaccines be targeted for the 2025-2026 immunization campaign. According to experts in the field, LP.8.1.1 or other subvariants could become the predominant strains within the LP.8.1 lineage, demonstrating strong humoral immune evasion. The World Health Organization (WHO) provided its perspective on the LP.8.1 variant, concluding that, based on the current evidence, the additional risk to public health is assessed as low globally.