At the end of June this year, a new variant of COVID-19, designated as XEC, was first detected in Germany and India. It is expected to spread to other contininents. On Wednesday, the British "Independent" reported that over 500 samples tested for the presence of XEC had been detected.

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

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.