Although rates of new COVID infections have fallen since the summer’s surge, there’s a new variant in town, gearing up to fuel winter illnesses. There’s a new vaccine as well, though uptake has been slow so far.

The XEC COVID variant has spread rapidly in some European countries, and it's now been reported in some U.S. states. But experts said there's no reason to think it poses a new threat.

That means like other variations of COVID, the symptoms are similar: The new vaccines are monovalent, or target one variant. This shot targets the KP.2, but since XEC has similarities between KP.2 and XEC, experts believe that the vaccine should work.

The new "XEC" COVID-19 variant spreading rapidly in Europe has arrived in the US. What are the symptoms, will it cause a fall surge, and are vaccines effective? Experts discuss

Even as COVID-19 activity remains high in the United States, a new variant - XEC is spreading rapidly in Europe and other parts of the world. Although few cases have been detected in the US so far, experts are projecting that XEC could be on track to become the dominant strain in the country this fall.

The U.S. is coming down from its biggest COVID summer surge yet as a new subvariant emerges—but new vaccines are here, too.

The latest strain of COVID originated in June in Germany, but has already spread across Europe, Asia and North America. Here's what to know.