NEW YORK (AP) – Another mutated version of the coronavirus appeared in New York City and experts responded to the news with a mixture of caution and concern.
According to researchers from the California Institute of Technology, one of the two teams that will share their work this week, the new variant first appears in the New York area in late November and has since surfaced in neighboring states.
But how problematic the variant can be is not yet known. Viruses constantly mutate – or make typing errors in their genetic code – as they spread and make copies.
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“Most are not of particular interest,” said Francois Balloux, director of the University of London’s Genetics Institute. However, he added: “It is useful to pay attention early, to notice, to arouse concern.”
This is because some genetic modifications can be of concern, especially if it helps spread the virus more easily, kills it or limits the effectiveness of vaccines. Scientists use genome sequencing and other research to determine what a possible problem is.
New York City health officials and Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday tried to alleviate concerns about the new variant, emphasizing that the new research is preliminary and that little is known about the variant.
A man walks into an empty shop, left, which is for rent on Monday, February 8, 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic in New York. (AP Photo / Mark Lennihan)
“Some variants are just that, these are variants.” says dr. Jay Varma, senior health adviser to the mayor.
Two research groups – at Caltech and Columbia University in New York – this week released papers outlining their findings on the new variant. None of the papers were published or evaluated by other scientists.
The Caltech researchers found that the new variant appeared in about a quarter of the 1,200 virus sequences they looked at this month. The variant also appears in New Jersey and Connecticut and has “isolated appearances across the country,” said Anthony West of CalTech, a co-author of the article.
On Thursday, Columbia University researchers released their research, which examined approximately 1,100 virus samples from patients treated at the university’s medical center, and dates from November. During the second week of February, the new variant was identified in 12% of the samples. They also found that patients infected with the mutated virus were likely to be older and that they had been admitted to the hospital.
Both groups noted that the new variant has a mutation that could potentially impair the effectiveness of vaccines – a mutation found in other worrying variants.
A man rides his bike on Monday, February 8, 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic in New York. (AP Photo / Mark Lennihan)
“There’s clearly something to keep an eye on,” Balloux said.
New variants appear throughout the pandemic, but three are considered the most worrying – they have been identified as ‘variants of concern’. They were first detected in Britain, South Africa and Brazil, but spread to other countries.
The one identified in the UK late last year has been found in 45 US states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The strain is worrying because it has so many mutations, almost two dozen. Some are on the prickly protein that the virus uses to attach and infect cells – and which targets current vaccines and antibody products.
One of the protein mutations of the vein is seen in the variants that were discovered early in Brazil and South Africa, and now also in the new variant in New York.
A variant that is spreading in California is also attracting attention. According to director Barbara Ferrer, it was found in 40 to 50 percent of the samples examined by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. But there is not enough careful research to determine what its mutations, if any, may affect.
Doctors administer the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine at New York Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital on Friday, January 8, 2021 in Bronxville, New York (AP Photo / Kevin Hagen).
After what many people described as a slow start, the federal government has increased its genetic sequence over the past few weeks to investigate and study virus variants to find out what problems could be a problem. Meanwhile, Ana S. Gonzalez Reiche, a virologist at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, asked for a warning.
“Without evidence, we do not have to worry about every variant being detected,” she said.
Studies show that first-generation COVID-19 vaccines do not work as well against a variant that first appeared in South Africa as against other versions. In response, drug companies are already figuring out how to modify their vaccines.
Experts say that social measures such as social distance and masks will meanwhile reduce the opportunities for the coronavirus to continue mutating and becoming unbridled.
“Emerging variants will occur,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases, told NBC on Thursday. “The trick is to prevent them from spreading when they occur.”
