SALT LAKE CITY – The strain of SARS-CoV-2 that arose in the UK late last year did come to Utah, but in recent cases is not a major factor, according to new data released by the state ‘s health department was provided.
The Utah Department of Health has added distribution of three different coronavirus variants to its COVID-19 data dashboard. SARS-CoV-2 is the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in humans.
The data show that as of Thursday, there have been 33 confirmed cases of B.1.1.7, which is more commonly referred to as the ‘British variant’. This is only 0.4% of all SARS-CoV-2 cases tested on variant.
Twenty-eight of the different cases were discovered in Salt Lake County, while two were discovered in Utah County, and another two in Summit County. The other variant found comes from a patient in Davis County.
The majority of the cases were collected in early February.
Utah has not yet received a confirmed case of the B.1.351 (South Africa) or P.1 (Brazil) variants, which are two of the other major variants that have emerged since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
This does not mean that one has not arrived in Utah, or that they are close. According to the Casper Star Tribune, Wyoming health officials reported earlier this week that they had found their first case of the South African variant in a positive case in Teton County.
Earlier it was announced that the British variant had reached Utah. The state health department announced the first confirmed case on January 15th.
The different coronavirus variants have caused concern to public health officials since its first discovery. Researchers, for example, have found that the British variant spreads faster than the original virus was first discovered in 2019. Dr. Angela Dunn, the state epidemiologist at the Utah Department of Health, said it has led to ‘more serious diseases’ in younger populations.
Recent studies show mixed but mostly encouraging results on the COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
In a study published in Nature earlier this week, the vaccines Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna were found to be 10.3 to 12.4 times less effective in containing the South African variant. The good news is that both vaccines have shown strong protection against the British variant.
In another report published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week, the Pfizer vaccine was found to provide strong protection against the Brazilian and British variants. It was also found that the vaccine offers ‘robust but lower’ protection on the South African variant.
That said, experts have pointed to the success of the vaccine in the “real world” environment. According to the Associated Press, the Pfizer vaccine has been found to be 92% effective against serious illnesses after two shots and 62% effective after one.
Moderna also began human testing of a modified version of the vaccine earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company had earlier announced that it would change its vaccine due to concerns about the South African variant.
While warning that COVID-19 has been “definitely unpredictable” over the past year, Dunn said Thursday there is still enough evidence to suggest that the vaccines work well against the various variants.
Dunn added that she was pleased with the rapid vaccination effort in Utah over the past few weeks. Between vaccines and methods to prevent new cases of COVID-19, there are ways to slow down or stop the spread of different variants of the coronavirus.
“It’s so important that you get it if you have the vaccine available,” she said. “We also know how to protect ourselves from the variants, don’t we? Masks work. Physical distance works. If you’m sick, you stay home – so it works. Then let’s use the tools until we’ll all be vaccinated.
“We also have one of the best public health surveillance teams in the country,” Dunn added. “It allows us to monitor the number of variant cases in our state and understand the distribution, and then get the information to you in real time. It enables you to make the best and most informed decisions. take to protect you and your loved one from COVID. ‘