Introduction

Two new COVID variants are making headlines this week as cases continue to rise across the United States. The new strain known as EG.5, also known as Eris, is now the most dominant strain in the U.S., while at the same time the more contagious strain BA 2.86 is confirmed to have hit U.S. shores. Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Celine Gounder returns to the show to update us on these latest strains and tells us what to watch out for as we head into the fall. Plus, she tells Andy who should be getting boosters now and who can wait until the next round of updated boosters become available. Later in the show, Dr. Gounder discusses season 2 of her own podcast, “Epidemic,” which looks at how we eradicated smallpox and what parallels we can draw to the COVID pandemic.

Keep up with Andy on Post and Twitter @ASlavitt.

Follow @celinegounder on Twitter.

Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. 

Support the show by checking out our sponsors!

• Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this show and all Lemonada shows: https://lemonadamedia.com/sponsors/ 

Check out these resources from today’s episode: 

• Find vaccines, masks, testing, treatments, and other resources in your community: https://www.covid.gov/
• Order Andy’s book, “Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response”: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165 

Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. 

For additional resources, information, and a transcript of the episode, visit lemonadamedia.com/show/inthebubble.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.