Rise of COVID ‘Scrabble’ variants could bring winter surge

(CNN) - There’s a new batch of COVID-19 variants brewing, and some health experts say it could cause a surge this winter.

The strains are already increasing in cases in Europe and Singapore.

The co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital has dubbed these the “Scrabble variants” because they have letters like “Q” and “X” that would get big scores in the Scrabble board game.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says these so-called Scrabble variants are responsible for nearly a third of all the COVID-19 cases reported nationwide last week.

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