Local doctor weighs in on new XE variant that’s hitting the United Kingdom

SALISBURY, Md.- A new COVID-19 variant has been identified in the United Kingdom, but a local doctor says we shouldn’t be too worried as of right now.

Dr. Jim Trumble, Vice President of Clinical Integration, with TidalHealth, said the new variant is called omicron XE. He said there’s little information about it, but we do know it is a mutation of BA.1 and BA.2, which are the initial two versions of omicron.

Dr. Trumble added it’s not uncommon to see new variants popping up like this, it’s just the natural course of how things play out with viruses.

“This is something that literally happens all the time and these different variants will recombine,” Dr. Trumble said. “They’ll get into somebody’s body and we we’ve seen it most commonly with those who are immune suppressed where they can get multiple variants in there and then they will recombine and form a new one.”

Dr. Trumble said vaccines and boosters, as well as good hygiene, are good ways to protect yourself from all coronavirus variants.