The World Health Organisation has classified COVID-19 strain JN.1 as a separate “variant of interest” given its rapidly increasing spread but said that it poses a “low” global public health risk.
The JN.1 variant was previously classified as a variant of interest (VOI) as part of the BA.2.86 sublineages, the parent lineage that is classified as a VOI, the world body said on Tuesday.
However, in recent weeks, JN.1 continues to be reported in multiple countries, and its prevalence has rapidly increased globally. India has also reported its first case of the JN.1 variant.
It now represents the vast majority of BA.2.86 descendent lineages reported to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“Due to its rapidly increasing spread, WHO is classifying JN.1 as a separate variant of interest (VOI) from the parent lineage BA.2.86,” the global health body said in a post on X.
The WHO evaluated the additional global public health risk posed by JN.1 as “low, based on the available yet limited evidence,” but warned, “It is anticipated that this variant may cause an increase in SARS-CoV-2 cases amid a surge of infections of other viral and bacterial infections, especially in countries entering the winter season.”
The JN.1 variant has been reported in the USA, China, Singapore and India.
In late 2020, the emergence of variants that posed an increased risk to global public health prompted WHO to characterise some as VOIs and variants of concern (VOCs) to prioritise global monitoring and research and to inform and adjust the COVID-19 response.