evidence: "The majority of the U.S. population has some immunity" due to previous inoculations or infection, CDC epidemiologist Megan Wallace, DrPH, told the committee. But "new variants have emerged" and "hospital admissions are likely to increase this winter." Second, the new variants might circumvent immunity that had been gained through previous inoculations and infections. [...] Various subvariants have been emerging, including those designated BA.2.86 and EG.5, and might become dominant in the United States, CDC researchers told the committee. Natalie Thornburg, PhD, lead research microbiologist at the CDC, noted that those subvariants are basically on the XBB family tree.