Although new COVID cases have dropped since the summer surge, there’s a new variant in town that will fuel winter illness. There’s also a new vaccine, but adoption has been slow so far. Whether you caught COVID during the summer surge, want to avoid it this fall, or want the latest information on the virus, we have some answers.

Here’s what experts want to tell you to help you prepare for COVID this fall.

Is the summer boom for the “FLiRT” variant over?

The summer COVID high-activity season appears to have passed its peak. During the week of August 18, nearly 20% of COVID tests were positive, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). After four weeks of steady decline, that number had dropped to just under 15% by the week of September 7.

Although COVID is still too new to accurately predict its patterns, “I expect it to quiet down in the fall and pick up again in early winter,” Dr. Mark Sawyer, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of California, San Diego, tells Yahoo Life. He points out that whether the virus’s activity will follow the same trajectory as in recent years – with case numbers rising in the summer during travel and during the winter holidays – depends in part on the variants circulating.

Which variants will drive COVID this fall?

The dominant KP variants responsible for the summer’s high case numbers were highly contagious but resulted in fewer hospitalizations than previous dominant versions of the virus. They remain dominant in the U.S., but speaking to Yahoo Life in early September, virologist Dr. Davey Smith of the University of California, San Diego, said, “I expect we’ll get another variant that’s very close to this one, because that’s what’s always happened over the last few years.”

Now, some experts believe that this variant has emerged. It’s called “XEC,” and the number of COVID cases it’s responsible for in Germany and Denmark has risen rapidly since the variant was first identified in June. As of the first weekend of September, 23 U.S. cases of XEC had been recorded by the Scripps Research Translational Institute’s variant tracker, Outbreak.info. Although it accounts for a very small proportion of infections in America, Scripps director Dr. Eric Topol said in a Sept. 13 X-post that XEC “seems to be the most likely variant to take hold next.”

Smith agrees, telling Yahoo Life, “I think this is the last one to take over and probably the one that will trigger our winter wave of COVID.”

Topol told Well and Good that XEC is essentially a mix of two variants – KP.3.3 and KS.1.1 – one of which is a cousin of the KP.3 variant that drove COVID cases so high in August. There is no evidence so far that XEC causes different or more severe symptoms than its predecessors. While XEC does not appear to be another FLiRT variant, it is also a descendant of the Omicron variants.

Does the new COVID vaccine work against XEC?

Experts say the vaccine against XEC will almost certainly perform better than the previous vaccine. But Topol noted that XEC is significantly different from the variants the vaccine is based on. Ultimately, it’s just too early to tell, and it’s hardly a surprise to scientists. “The virus is always one step ahead of us,” Smith says.

Who should be vaccinated and when?

For relatively young, healthy people, there is some debate among experts about when to get vaccinated. But for anyone at high risk, experts say the sooner the better. High-risk people include people with underlying health conditions such as heart disease or diabetes, people age 60 and older, and people whose immune systems are weakened due to illness or treatment for problems such as cancer or rheumatoid arthritis – all of which increase the risk of severe infection. “The very high-risk population probably shouldn’t delay vaccination, almost no matter what,” Sawyer says.

However, Smith says that if you had COVID this summer, you may want to wait until three months have passed since your infection to get vaccinated. The COVID infection “basically just strengthened your immune system,” he says. “Instead of your immune system being trained by the vaccine, it was trained by the real disease.”

Both Smith and Sawyer say it’s a good idea for anyone 6 months and older (as recommended by the CDC) to protect themselves and others, especially from the winter surge. But the exact timing depends on a number of variables. Sawyer, who contracted COVID in June, wants to wait a bit longer, but advises anyone with travel plans or big events like weddings to get vaccinated beforehand.

Are there free recordings?

Vaccinations are not as readily available as they once were. The federal government ended the Bridge Program, which provided free vaccinations to people without health insurance, in late August. Now, people without health insurance could pay up to $200 for the shot, The Washington Post reported. However, children can still get free vaccinations through the Vaccines for Children program. Free or low-cost vaccines may also be available through local health departments and community health centers at fairs. Medicaid, Medicare and many private health insurance plans cover the cost of COVID vaccinations.

What should I do if I get COVID this fall?

The CDC has relaxed its isolation guidelines and now recommends that people stay home and away from others for at least 24 hours after their symptoms improve and their fever subsides. “The guidelines are good, but I think it’s still a good idea to isolate yourself if you have COVID,” Smith says. “You don’t want to infect others – especially people you love or care about. So if you’re not feeling well, you might not want to go to the birthday party or events. This is even more important if the people at the party might be older or have illnesses like cancer or diabetes.”

And while the same rule of thumb applies whether you have COVID, the flu or another respiratory infection, you should still get tested (again, the U.S. government offers this for free). That’s especially important for people at higher risk for severe COVID illness, because a positive test allows them to discuss with their doctor whether they should take Paxlovid to prevent the illness from becoming more dangerous, Sawyer and Smith say.