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Although the national emergency caused by the new coronavirus is over, a new coronavirus strain called EG.5 or “Eris” is spreading rapidly around the world.
“EG.5 is really just a subvariety of Omicron,” says Dr. Payal Patel, an infectious disease physician at Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City. “This subvariant is on the rise around the world, even in the United States.”
According to CNBC, the World Health Organization says it will monitor mutations in the EG.5 variant, but at this time “the global public health risk is low.”
“All of these new sub-variants are related to Omicron, and our new and latest boosters are performing well against this,” Patel told CNBC Make It.
Patel said the latest booster is expected to go on sale in late September or early October in the fall.
With the national emergency no longer in effect, many are wondering if the latest boosters will be covered by insurance. CNBC Make It asked doctors for their thoughts on this fall’s concerns and what people can expect.
The blunt answer is that it’s up to insurance companies to decide whether the booster costs are covered, says Dr. Solana Segal Maurer, director of infectious diseases at New York-Presbyterian Queens.
If you get the vaccine at your local pharmacy, consider asking the pharmacist at the location if your insurance covers the COVID-19 booster, she added. Segal Maurer says they keep your insurance plan and will be able to advise you.
For others, Patel says, it all depends on the employer’s decision. She hopes that employers will see value in their employees being covered for the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I would recommend this to anyone making those decisions for their employees. It helps. and you will get the payoff,” says Patel.
“If the employer can cover this and the insurance can cover the booster, I think it’s a win-win situation.”
If you don’t have insurance or your healthcare provider doesn’t cover the cost of the vaccine, you should also be able to get the booster for free through your local public health authority, Patel added.
What are the symptoms of the EG.5 variant?
The new “Eris” variant is less serious than the recent Omicron variant that has been around for months, Segal Maurer told CNBC Make It. “In terms of what to expect, the symptoms are the same,” she added.
Symptoms of EG.5 include:
- Malaise
- sore throat
- snot
- heat
- muscle pain
- loss of taste and smell
“We haven’t seen anything unusual in terms of new or different symptoms,” Segal-Maurer said.
“People who have been vaccinated or who have had COVID-19 before are experiencing this as another respiratory infection. There are others, which means they are not as severe as they were three years ago.” “
Both Patel and Segal Maurer stress that the best defense against the new coronavirus is to keep vaccinations up to date.
“Vaccines have been proven to prevent serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths, and that hasn’t changed,” Segal Maurer said. “It still has pretty good protection against most SARS-CoV-2 strains.”
Always remember to wash your hands thoroughly, she added. Also, if you have a medical condition that may increase your chances of a serious outcome from COVID-19, consider using a mask when going out in public, especially during large gatherings. please.
Additionally, if you have symptoms, she urges you to get tested before spending time with people who could also have serious consequences from COVID-19.
“The really good news is that it’s not like it was in 2020,” Segal Maurer said.
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