A new COVID variant, XEC, has arrived just before fall. The new variant has sprouted from the omicron variant that was first identified in late 2021. It’s possible that XEC may “become the dominant subvariant over the winter,” Francois Balloux, director of the Genetics Institute at University College London, told the BBC.

Researchers indicate that the vaccine and booster shots should protect against the new variant. Here is what we know about the XEC variant and what you can do to stay healthy.

Talk of the new Covid variant – known as XEC – is currently rife, with reports emerging that the variant, first detected in Germany in June, is spreading across the United States and the rest of Europe.