Researchers say the strain could evade protection from current COVID shots
A new Covid variant is spreading across the U.S. and it may be able to evade protection from current vaccines.
The variant, known as BA.3.2, has been detected in nasal swabs taken from four American travelers and clinical samples from five patients in four unidentified states. It’s also been found in three airplane wastewater samples and 132 wastewater samples taken in more than 20 states, suggesting that its reach is actually far more widespread than what scientists see right now.
Descended from omicron, BA.3.2 was first detected in South Africa in 2024 and in the U.S. in June 2025 in a traveler from the Netherlands. The variant began really surging in September 2025 and has since been reported in 23 countries.
My wife and I had a very covid-like virus last month too. It took us about 6 weeks to recover, although we’re still suffering from it a bit. And something that isn’t the seasonal flu has been hitting schools in our area really hard recently.
I assumed it was HMNV (Human Metaneumovirus). But now I’m questioning that.