Gov. addresses latest COVID variant as infections climb nationwide

BRIDGEPORT, CT (WFSB) - More than two-years since the start of pandemic, COVID-19 remains a public health threat.

Gov. Ned Lamont addressed the virus’s latest B-5 variant at 11 a.m. on Monday in Bridgeport.

Health experts say the latest variant is quite contagious.

Lamont and other state officials held an update Monday morning in Bridgeport:

The governor along with the state’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Manisha Juthani, spent the morning reminding people that COVID is still here.

With school set to start in a little more than a month, state leaders are encouraging parents to get their kids vaccinated.

Children 5 and up who were vaccinated more than 4 months ago are eligible for a booster.

About a month ago, Connecticut’s littlest residents, those 6 months to 5 years, can get their shots now as well.

State leaders are also pushing boosters for anyone 50 and older. The state said when it comes to hospitalizations, more than 3/4 of those hospitalized are fully vaccinated and not boosted, or not vaccinated at all.

A summertime surge may be catching people off guard, but a fourth vaccine may be on the way.

In the last two weeks, cases in the U.S. were up 15 percent. Hospitalizations were up 20 percent.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is likely to recommend a fourth vaccine dose soon.

A fourth version of the vaccine looks to also be on the horizon.

Novavax now has Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization for its vaccine. The CDC is expected to recommend it as soon as this month.

Doctors said it is different than the other vaccines. It uses protein fragments, which teach the body to fight COVID.

Experts said that’s good news because the country may be dealing with the most contagious variant yet in the B-5.

A big concern is there may be more cases than what’s being reported, because some people who take home COVID tests don’t self-report the results.

Still, experts said there is no evidence that the latest variant causes severe disease.

“By diminishing the circulation of virus in the community by vaccinations and boosting and masking where appropriate and testing so that you can keep people separated who are infected, you cut down on that likelihood that you’re going to get new variants,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “And with regard to the vaccines, it’s important that you try and not only get a booster, but as you get more variants, we’re going to be upgrading and updating the next level of boosters so that by the time we get to the fall, it is very likely we’ll have an updated booster that will address better the circulating variant at that time.”

“It’s the B-5 variant that’s growing,” said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner. “It has the capacity to evade the immunity that we’ve acquired from vaccination and also from prior infection.”