New highly transmissible subvariant of COVID-19 now accounts for majority of New York City cases, health officials say
NEW YORK -- The New York City Health Department warns a new COVID-19 subvariant is highly transmissible.
This comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a possible side effect of the updated COVID booster.
"When they told me I was positive, I was like, positive for COVID?" Bronx resident Brandon Williams said.
Williams is just starting to feel better after testing positive for COVID this month.
"Honestly, it was terrifying 'cause I lost my taste and smell," he said.
He's not sure what strand it was, but the health department says 73% of all recent COVID cases in New York City are the new Omicron subvariant XXB.1.5.
"I've gotten all my shots. I have five," Midtown resident Pat Wexler said.
City doctors warn this is the most transmissible form of COVID known to date and may be more likely to infect people who are vaccinated or already had COVID.
"This, like many of the Omicron variants that have preceded it, are very contagious but fortunately have not lead to the development of severe illness for the most part," said Dr. David Hirschwerk, medical director of North Shore University Hospital on Long Island. "Difficult to distinguish this variant from the presentation of other variants and also difficult to distinguish the presentation from other respiratory illnesses, like influenza."
The good news is COVID is trending slightly down overall across New York state, including on Long Island and in New York City, according to the health department.
"There are a lot of crazy people out here who think this thing is over and it's not," Midtown resident Carolyn Kamunanwrie said.
The CDC continues to recommend everyone 6 months and older stay up-to-date with COVID vaccinations, but Friday, the center said it's investigating whether there was a safety concern for stroke in people ages 65 and older who received the bivalent COVID vaccine.
The CDC says its Vaccine Safety Datalink detected a possible increase after some people got the booster, but assure "the totality of the data currently suggests that it is very unlikely that the signal in VSD represents a true clinical risk."
Medical experts and the CDC still advise people to get the booster.