The Cicada variant of Covid-19 is a highly mutated strain detected in 23 countries, with health officials warning vaccines may be less effective against it
12:23, 31 Mar 2026Updated 12:27, 31 Mar 2026
A positive and negative Covid-19 test (stock)(Image: Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
A fresh variant of the Covid-19 virus has started spreading throughout Europe.
The Cicada variant is now circulating in the US and 22 additional countries, with health authorities cautioning that it’s a heavily mutated strain and existing vaccines may offer reduced protection against it. Officially designated as BA.3.2, Cicada is a descendant of the Omicron subvariant of SARS-CoV-2.
The variant can carry between 70 to 75 mutations, which represents at least twice the number of mutations found in the JN.1 lineage viruses. These JN.1 viruses are the most prevalent form of Covid and have been extensively circulating over the past two years.
Cicada was initially identified in South Africa in November 2024, though the strain began emerging more broadly in September 2025, reports RSVP Live. It has since been identified in 23 countries and represents up to 30% of cases in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, according to a report from the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP).
Cicada first surfaced in the US in an airline passenger travelling through San Francisco International Airport from the Netherlands in June 2025. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until January 2026 that BA.3.2 appeared in a clinical sample from a US patient.
As of February 11, Cicada had been identified in four US travellers and five patients, as well as in airline and wastewater samples across 25 states, including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, according to the CDCP, Everyday Health reports. There are worries that the substantial number of mutations present in this variant might enable it to bypass vaccines more effectively, potentially accelerating transmission rates.
“The recently emerged BA.3.2 strain efficiently evades antibodies, likely because of spike protein mutations, highlighting the need for ongoing genomic surveillance and observational evaluations of vaccine and antiviral effectiveness,” the CDC report stated. Medical experts have also raised concerns that existing vaccines may prove less potent against this emerging strain. “The number of mutations makes it less likely that the current vaccines will be as highly effective against the variant,” says Dr Robert H. Hopkins, medical director of the US-based National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. “But we need more data to better answer this question.”
Thus far, Dr Hopkins hasn’t observed any indication that Cicada poses a greater threat than other Covid variants currently in circulation. “Severe sore throat is being reported as a common symptom along with other typical COVID symptoms,” he says.
The HSE lists the following as the most frequently reported Covid symptoms:
fever (high temperature – 38 degrees Celsius or above)dry coughfatigue and tirednessloss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this could mean they’re completely gone or just different to normalnasal congestionconjunctivitissore throatheadachemuscle or joint paindifferent types of skin rashnausea or vomitingdiarrhoeachills or dizzinessshortness of breath or breathing difficultiesloss of appetiteconfusionpain or pressure in the chest
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