Overview

• Nimbus (NB.1.8.1) now accounts for about 37% of COVID-19 cases nationwide and 55% of infections in California.
• Patients frequently experience a severe “razor blade throat,” though other symptoms mirror those of earlier COVID-19 variants.
• The World Health Organization classifies Nimbus as a variant under monitoring and rates the global public health risk as low.
• Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. restricts updated booster shots to people aged 65 and older or those with underlying health conditions.
• The CDC has increased genomic sequencing and wastewater surveillance efforts to track the rapid spread of the new variant.