Oregon is the first U.S. state to have an identified case of a COVID-19 “Variant of Concern”

Oregon now has the distinction of being the first state in the country where a specific, new variant of the coronavirus has been discovered.

Oregon has already reported 11 documented cases of the British variant of the coronavirus and one case of the Brazilian variant.

But on Friday, The New York Times reports that Oregon Health & Science University has drafted a case of a British variant with an additional mutation that could make the current COVID-19 vaccine less effective.

The same genetic mutation developed late in the UK in the country’s increase in cases. The mutation – E484K, or “Eek” – also appears in the Brazilian and South African variants.

Here’s the way the Times describes it: “The B.1.1.7 variant with Eek also originated in Britain, which has been described by scientists as a ‘worrying variant’. But the virus identified in Oregon appears to be developing independently.”

“We did not import it from anywhere else in the world – it happened spontaneously,” OHSU geneticist Brian O’Roak told the Times.

Because the case is homemade, scientists expect there to be more than one case in the US

There are two serious concerns about variants (and especially this mutation): it can lead to another increase in cases before vaccines are widely distributed, and it can make the vaccines less effective.

Dr. Anthony Fauci warns that the more contagious variants spreading in the US could cause a resurgence. The British variant (without the Oregon mutation) accounts for about 1 in 5 new cases in the country, the Times Sunday reported.

There is a debate as to why another upsurge has not yet taken place, given the spread of the more contagious variants, and also whether it will happen.

The Times story announcing news of the Oregon mutation ends with a warning:

“The finding in Oregon reinforces the need for people to continue to take precautions, such as wearing a mask, until a large portion of the population is immunized.

“People do not have to scare, but to stay alert,” [University of California at Berkeley’s Stacia Wyman] said. “We can not let go of our wait yet, while these more transferable variants are still in circulation.” ‘