The first cases of infection with the Pyrola strain of COVID have been identified in Russia.

Ten cases of infection with the new strain of CORONAVIRUS BA.2.86 (“pyrola”), a subvariant of omicron, have been registered in Russia, the press service of Rospotrebnadzor said in a statement received by RBC.

Three cases of infection were confirmed in Moscow, seven more in St. Petersburg . The HEAD of the department, Anna Popova, previously told reporters that the Moscow cases were imported, the patients came on vacation from Turkey and Germany. According to her, as recently as November 3, “pirola” had not been registered in Russia. Popova recommended that Russians wear masks “where possible,” keep their hands and gadgets clean, reduce the number of contacts and stay home if they feel unwell.

Rospotrebnadzor reported that it is monitoring the situation with imported cases of new strains of SARS-CoV-2. “According to experts, drugs used to treat covid-19 are effective against this strain,” the service said.

As the department noted, in some countries, pyrola accounts for up to 15% of all new cases. This variant has been identified in the usa , Denmark, Israel, South Africa, Portugal and the UK , among others . Ancha Baranova, professor at the School of Systems Biology at George Mason University (Virginia), scientific DIRECTOR of the Atlas biomedical holding, noted in a conversation with RBC that Pyrola has many mutations compared to other variants of COVID-19, and suggested that the effectiveness of vaccines may be below.

On September 20, Rospotrebnadzor stated that the new strain is more contagious than the previous ones, but, as virologists interviewed by RBC reassured, it does not pose a great danger. Among those most susceptible to the disease are the elderly, people with weakened immune systems and chronic diseases. According to Popova, vaccination is not necessary this season .