JN.1 is Canada’s new dominant COVID-19 subvariant. Here’s what to know
COVID-19 subvariant, known as JN.1, has emerged and is now the prevailing strain across Canada, prompting health experts to caution that it may be more infectious and could even have extra symptoms.Currently, the subvariant makes up the highest proportion of all COVID-19 variants, accounting for more than half (51. 9 per cent) of all infections in Canada, according to the latest data from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).JN.1 was first detected in Canada on Oct. 9, and since then has rapidly increased.“If this virus continues to circulate at high levels, that means more virus, which means more mutations and more evolution, which means more of this same kind of issue happening repeatedly,” warned Ryan Gregory, a professor of integrative biology at the University of Guelph, and evolutionary biologist.On Dec.
10, the JN.1 subvariant made up 26.6 per cent of all COVID-19 variants in Canada, but was not the dominant strain. At that time, HV.1 still made up 29 per cent of all subvariants, according to PHAC data. By Dec.
17, JN.1 made up the highest percentage (38.5 per cent) of all subvariants across Canada. Meanwhile, HV.1 fell to 24.4 per cent.The World Health Organization (WHO) on Dec. 19 added JN.1 to its list of variants of interest, its second-highest level of monitoring.
Despite the categorization, the health organization said JN.1 poses a low additional public health risk.Two days later, on Dec. 21, PHAC labelled it as a variant of interest in Canada.As the subvariant continues to circulate, here is what we know so far about JN.1.The JN.1 subvariant is a sublineage of BA.2.86 that emerged in Europe in late August 2023. It is another Omicron variant, according to PHAC.
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