"Dr. Anne Rimoin discusses the rise of COVID"

KTLA interviewed Dr. Anne Rimoin, professor of epidemiology and the Gordon-Levin Endowed Chair in Infectious Diseases and Public Health, for a segment about the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases related to the "EG.5" variant and information on the new round of COVID vaccine boosters coming this fall.

"We're starting to see a rise in cases and hospitalizations, which is a trend that we have seen over the last few years," Rimoin said. "While we're seeing this uptick, it's just important for everybody to remember that COVID is still out there."

"The latest variant that we're seeing, 'EG.5', or 'ERIS' as some people are calling it in the media, is a variant that is related to the Omicron variant that we've seen before. So, each variant becomes a little bit more contagious, evades the vaccines that we've had in the past a little bit more each time, but it is something that is very similar to what we've seen in the past," Rimoin added.

"The new COVID vaccines that we're seeing, that we expect to come out this fall sometime probably late September-early October, are geared toward the XBB variant. And that variant is related to the variant we're seeing right now, so it's very likely going to provide good protection against severe disease, hospitalizations, and death. It's going to be updated every year like we see the flu shot updated to target what's circulating."

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