The strains — XFB, dubbed Stratus, and NB.1.8.1, known as Nimbus — are fuelling a surge in infections, with cases doubling since August.

At the same time, health chiefs have launched a winter vaccination drive, urging millions to come forward for Covid and flu jabs as hospitalisations creep up.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said positivity had risen from 7.6 to 8.4 per cent in just a week, while admissions increased from 2.0 to 2.73 per 100,000.

In the US, nationwide Covid wastewater levels, used to measure the community spread of a virus, are ‘moderate,’ according to the CDC, but four states are recording ‘very high’ levels and those in the northeast region are on the rise.

Dr Aaron Glatt, a US-based infectious disease expert, told Today.com that patients were complaining of ‘severe pain — as if their throat is covered with razor blades’.

He added: ‘While not specific to Covid-19, this expression has been used to describe sore throat symptoms in some patients with the most recent Covid-19 variant.’

But the new strains can also cause more familiar complaints such as headaches, coughing, fatigue and a runny or blocked nose.

Experts stress they are no more dangerous than earlier versions, but genetic mutations mean they spread more easily.

Covid tests are no longer free on the NHS, but can still be bought at pharmacies.

The UKHSA advises anyone with symptoms to stay at home if possible and avoid contact with vulnerable people. Those who must go out are urged to wear a face covering.

It advised: ‘If you have symptoms of a respiratory infection, such as Covid-19, and you have a high temperature or do not feel well enough to go to work or carry out normal activities, you should avoid contact with vulnerable people and stay at home if possible.

Covid vaccines ‘might raise the risk of cancer’, contentious study claims
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‘For those of us who absolutely can’t stay at home, the Living with Covid guidance remains unchanged, and will reduce the chance of passing on your infection to others.’

Over-75s, people with weakened immune systems and care home residents are eligible for the winter Covid booster, available on the NHS app, online, or at walk-in centres.

Pregnant women and children are also invited for vaccination, and toddlers can this year get a flu spray at community pharmacies.

Some high street chemists are offering private Covid jabs, costing up to £99 ($134).

The rise in cases comes just days after a controversial South Korean study claimed Covid vaccines ‘might raise the risk of cancer’.

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Published in Biomarker Research, it failed to explain how the jabs could trigger the disease.

Experts dismissed the findings as ‘superficially alarming’, warning the conclusions were hugely overblown. Scientists have repeatedly said there is no credible evidence that Covid vaccines interfere with tumour suppressors or fuel cancer growth.

It follows Reform UK distancing itself from cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra —an adviser to US presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy Jr — after he suggested at the party’s conference that Covid jabs were linked to the cancers of the British King and Princess of Wales.