The first known cases of a COVID-19 variant originally found in South Africa were identified by Stanford University researchers in two Bay Area residents, one in Alameda County and the other in Santa Clara County.
Government Gavin Newsom took the news in a Wednesday press conferenceindicating that although the infection rates and hospitalizations of the state are generally lower, the pandemic remains severe and that people need to be vigilant about social distance and wearing face masks.
According to Newsom, 30 genomics laboratories in the state have identified 159 cases of a UK variant and 1,203 of two West Coast variants. The variant, which was first detected in Brazil, was not found in California, he said.
“The issue of mutations is not only here in the state of California, but also increasingly around the world,” Newsom said during a news conference in Fresno.
The South African variant is one of several recent mutations in the virus, most of which involve changes in its ear protein – the part of the virus that enables it to enter human cells – making it more contagious and slightly more resistant to can make vaccines.
It is typical for any virus to mutate, but concerns are rising about the growing number of new variants of the coronavirus around the world, as some are more difficult to fight. The variant from Britain is more contagious and presumably becomes more deadly than the original, while the variant from South Africa can make the vaccinations somewhat less effective.
In South Africa, where the variant is now prevalent, officials will next week vaccinate frontal health workers with a shot that is still being tested – an unorthodox strategy announced on Wednesday after officials abandoned plans to use another vaccine sailing which according to a small study is only minimal. effective against the variant that prevails in the country.
A small study that suggested that the AstraZeneca vaccine was weak in preventing mild to moderate diseases caused by the variant, got South Africa’s vaccination campaign off the ground this week, just as it started. Experts believe that the vaccine – the only one authorized in South Africa for general use – can still prevent serious diseases.
But officials quickly turned their attention to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine – which has only been approved for use in studies in South Africa and in fact has not yet been approved for general use in any country. The company has applied for emergency use permission from the US Food and Drug Administration and the South African Regulatory Authority.
The first six Bay Area cases of the variant from the United Kingdom were all found in Alameda County. Two of them were students at UC Berkeley.
Associated Press contributed to this story.