Published 09\/13\/23 05:05 PM Diane Herbst<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The highly mutated new COVID-19 variant BA.2.86<\/a> has not yet caused profound illness and death, leading one California infectious disease expert to describe it as a \u201cpaper tiger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n University of California, San Francisco’s Dr. Peter Chin-Hong <\/a>said during a COVID roundtable discussion<\/a> that while this new variant, also known as Pirola, has more than 30 mutations on its spike protein \u2014 equivalent to the evolutionary leap between the Delta to Omicron variants \u2014 there are relatively few cases worldwide. And four recent international studies discovered that existing antibodies can neutralize it, reported the San Francisco Chronicle<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople are calling it a paper tiger now because it looks really scary, but it\u2019s just made of paper,\u201d Dr. Chin-Hong<\/a> said, according to the Chronicle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Dr. Chin-Hong emphasized that there is still much to learn about this variant, the outlet reported. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, doctors are often divided these days, with the highly mutated variant catching the attention of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), prompting the release<\/a> of a risk assessment summary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Chin-Hong\u2019s colleague, Dr. Bob Wachter<\/a>, UCSF\u2019s chief of medicine, labeled the BA.2.86 variant \u201cthe scariant of the moment,\u201d because when observing its spike protein, \u201cit looks like it\u2019s mutated up the ying-yang,\u201d according to the Chronicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Covid hospitalizations are up for the 8th straight week<\/a>, and the BA.2.86<\/a> is considered a \u201chighly mutated<\/a>\u201d variant with the potential to \u201cescape immunity,\u201d experts have said it is not responsible for recent rising case counts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n