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A new COVID variant is now the dominant strain. But that doesn't mean another surge for Arizona

The Food and Drug Administration authorized second Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 booster shots March 29 for everyone 50 and older; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to issue further guidance on boosters soon, as well. The move is seen as an attempt to protect older Americans whose immunity may be waning, in case there’s another surge.

Globally, the World Health Organization says the omicron subvariant BA.2 now accounts for the majority of all sequenced cases of COVID. But in Arizona and across much of the country, the number of COVID infections has been dropping. And many of the restrictions that had been put in place over the course of the last couple of years have been lifted.

So where are we exactly in this pandemic? To get some answers, The Show spoke with Dr. Dave Engelthaler, director of the Pathogen & Microbiome Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute. 

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Mark Brodie is a co-host of The Show, KJZZ’s locally produced news magazine. Since starting at KJZZ in 2002, Brodie has been a host, reporter and producer, including several years covering the Arizona Legislature, based at the Capitol.