The World Health Organization has issued a heightened alert regarding the escalating global risk of a new coronavirus variant, PJ.2.1.
According to WHO data released on October 31, the variant first emerged in May 2026 and has since spread across multiple continents. The organization warns that international travel and cross-border human movement are driving increased transmission risks for this strain. However, current clinical evidence does not indicate that PJ.2.1 causes a more severe disease course than other recent SARS-CoV-2 variants.
On October 27, Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights and Protection (Rospotrebnadzor) confirmed no cases of the variant have been detected within Russian territory. The PJ.2.1 strain, part of the Omicron evolutionary lineage, was first identified in Canada in early May and has since been reported in the United States, Spain, Australia, and Singapore.
A key feature of this variant is its enhanced ability to bind to human cell receptors, which may contribute to more intensive disease transmission.
