The coronavirus variant, first identified in South Africa, has been detected in California.
The variant, known as B.1.351, is involved with health officials because the current COVID-19 vaccines – one from Moderna and the other from Pfizer / BioNTech – are generally less effective against this strain.
The South African variant has been identified in two people, both in the Bay – one in Santa Clara County and another in Alameda County, Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday. Nationally, there are at least nine other cases being confirmed in three east coast states: Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina.
The South African variant differs from another related strain, first identified in Britain, known as B.1.1.7. The strain is thought to be 50-70% more transmissible than the conventional variety of the coronavirus and is expected to become the dominant strain of the virus nationwide by the end of March.
The good news, however, is that available COVID-19 vaccines are clearly effective against the British variant, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s leading expert on infectious diseases, said Wednesday.
The British tribe is already the most common variant in the USA, said dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday. It probably accounts for between 1% and 4% of cases in the US, but the share is likely to be higher in some countries.
The British tribe has been traced in 932 people in the US in 34 states. According to the state Department of Public Health, 159 cases have been identified in California, Newsom said, including in the provinces of Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Mateo and Yolo.
California is also studying two so-called West Coast variants, known as B.1.427 and B.1.429, which have been identified in more than 1,000 people in the state. The variants consist of a large percentage of virus samples analyzed over the past few months, and scientists are studying them to determine if they are more contagious than the conventional variety of coronavirus.
California has not yet detected one strain identified for the first time in Brazil, known as P.1, which has been identified in two people in Minnesota and one in Oklahoma, but a closely related variant, also from Brazil, known as P. 2, at a laboratory at Stanford University.
Here is a closer look at what you need to know about the South African variant:
The available vaccines are less effective
Studies show that there is currently a five- to six-fold reduction in the effectiveness of current vaccines against the South African strain, Fauci said, although he said the shots are still protective against them. “So there is some protection, although it has diminished somewhat,” he said.
Although the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are less effective in preventing mild to moderate cases of COVID-19, the good news, according to Fauci, is that the vaccines still offer significant protection; in fact, without hospitalizations or deaths in individuals vaccinated with the [South Africa variant]. ”
Scientists are already working on potential booster shots if necessary to protect the South African variant.
Santa Clara County Case
The two cases of the South African variant that were announced in California on Wednesday occurred among two unrelated people who had recently returned from international travel and complied with the quarantines, Dr. Sara Cody, the director of public health and health officer in Santa Clara County, said.
The case in Santa Clara County involves “an adult traveling internationally returning in mid-January” and then following a mandatory instruction requiring people to enter the province in quarantine for at least ten days.
A few days after returning to Santa Clara County, the person developed symptoms and was tested. Officials learned on Wednesday morning that the patient was infected with the South African variant.
“This person had an international trip, went back to our country and was 100% in agreement with it – stayed in their apartment – and a few days after returning, when symptoms developed, he was diagnosed,” Cody said. said. “The good news, then, is that they were not in contact with anyone outside their household during any contact.”
The only time the person was contagious was during the self-quarantine period at home, Cody said. The person did not require hospitalization and fully recovered.
There were few additional details available for the case in Alameda County and it is still being investigated, said Dr. Nicholas Moss, the health officer of Alameda County. The patient is no longer contagious, Moss said based on the date the lab test was performed.
To stay safe
The US listed only a small fraction of the new coronavirus samples, so the country may be slow to detect new variants as it multiplies.
‘In some ways we have to assume that these variants of concern are already circulating; we just do not know to what extent, ”Cody said. “So we need to adjust and change our behavior and double down on all the important things we do, like wearing masks, not meeting and keeping distance from anyone outside our household.”
The arrival of the variants also emphasizes how risky it is to travel and how important it is to be quarantined while traveling.
Federal officials continued for weeks to sound the alarm about the dangers of non-essential travel. “Avoid crowds and travel,” the CDC’s Walensky said.
California remains under travel advice, with the state Department of Public Health warning against non-essential travel, including for tourism or recreation, to any part of the state that is more than 20 miles from home, or to other states or states . The advice also discourages non-important travelers from other states and nations from visiting.
“Avoiding travel reduces the risk of virus transmission, among other things by reducing the risk that new sources of infection and possibly new virus strains will be introduced in California,” the advisory board said.
The advice asks all people who arrive in California or return to the state to isolate themselves for ten years, which means they have to stay home and deliver food. The recommendation does not apply to health workers, emergencies or people who regularly cross state or national borders for essential travel.
Future boom still possible
Moss, the health officer of Alameda County, said there is still a risk of future pandemic outbreaks, but it may look different from the devastating fall and winter hurricane.
“We can certainly expect more increases to come. They may look different, ”Moss said. ‘We’ll be pulling out of winter here in California; more people will receive vaccination or be infected earlier and this can affect things. ”