- Maryland officials said a man in Baltimore got the coronavirus variant that was first found in South Africa.
- The governor of Maryland said the man did not travel abroad.
- The mutant variant is more contagious, but is not thought to be more lethal.
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The US has identified its third case of the more contagious coronavirus variant found in South Africa – this time in a man from Maryland.
The man, from the Baltimore region, did not travel outside the country, Governor Larry Hogan said in a statement, meaning he probably caught it in the community.
This is the third case of the variant found in the US: Government officials in South Carolina on Thursday announced the first two confirmed cases of the variant in the country. Neither of the people traveled outside the U.S., and the two cases were not connected, health officials said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the variant, called B.1.351, “can spread easier and faster,” but there is no evidence that it is more deadly. The variant has a mutation on its vein protein, which uses the coronavirus to invade human cells.
Read more: Coronavirus variants threaten to increase the progress of the pandemic. Here’s how 4 top vaccine fighters fight back.
Hogan said Maryland health officials are trying to identify and test the man’s contacts, as well as closely monitor the B.1.351 variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the state.
“We strongly encourage Marylanders to be extra careful about limiting the additional risk of transmission associated with this variant. Continue to practice standard public health and safety measures, including wearing a mask, regular hand washing and physical exercise. distance.”
The man did not have to go to the hospital and recover at home, Charles Gischlar, spokesman for the Maryland Department of Health, told The Washington Post.
Maryland confirmed 352,726 cases of COVID-19. Nationwide, nearly 26 million cases have been confirmed, and the virus has killed more than 435,000 people, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Studies suggest that vaccines are effective against the variant
The latest evidence suggests that vaccines work against the variant – although slightly less effective than against the original virus.
A study published on Wednesday showed that Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine worked against a coronavirus produced in the laboratory, similar to the South African variant. The drug companies said the performance was slightly lower than against the original virus, but that was unlikely to lead to a significant decrease in efficacy. Moderna announced similar results from a study Monday.
There are not yet sufficient data to say whether vaccines outside the laboratory conditions work against the variant.
Some studies have suggested that the variant antibodies produced by the body may elude. Both Pfizer and Moderna, which authorize the two vaccines in the US, are developing new versions of their vaccines to counteract the variant.
President Joe Biden has banned travelers from South Africa from entering the United States.
The US also reported cases of mutant variants found in Brazil and the United Kingdom. The variant first identified in the UK, B.1.1.7, is the most common of the three variants now confirmed in the US, and experts believe it has been spreading in the US for several weeks.