What is the latest COVID-19 variant?

The latest COVID-19 variant is identified as KP.3.1.1, which is currently the predominant variant in the United States. This variant is an offshoot of the Omicron family and has been observed to be increasing in prevalence as COVID-19 activity rises across many regions of the country^[3].

Another notable variant, JN.1, a descendant of Omicron, is also spreading rapidly, representing about 39% to half of the recorded cases^[2]. However, both KP.3.1.1 and JN.1 do not appear to cause more severe disease than other recent variants^[2][3].