What you need to know
- Variants of interest and variants of concern account for more than 70 percent of all New York cases, up from 10 percent in January
- Variants in the UK and Brazil are considered worrisome variants because the former has been shown to cause more serious results, while the latter may be more resistant to vaccines.
- New York City health officials say they are studying whether the Washington Heights variant causes a higher risk of reinfection by other variants or is more resistant to vaccines.
More contagious variants keep the daily COVID case count of the five municipalities on a “plateau,” even as vaccine deployment accelerates, and city officials are studying whether it is more likely than one to go. arising in Washington Heights last year caused reinfection among people who previously had the virus, health officials say.
They also continue to study whether other types of variants are more likely to infect fully vaccinated people and whether this Washington Heights variant, known as B.1.526, contributes to more serious outcomes in terms of deaths, hospitalization, and illness, says a new analysis. from the health department released Monday.
The Washington Heights variant, along with strains from the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7), Brazil (P.1) and South Africa (B.1.351), have been shown to be more transmissible than previous COVID strains , which is why they are known as “variants of concern” or “variants of interest”.
Strain B.1.1.7 is described as a “variant of concern,” as tests show it causes more serious infections than previous strains. It can also be more lethal. Variant P.1 is also considered a variant of concern because tests show that antibodies from a previous infection or vaccination may be less effective against it.
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Although research is ongoing to assess the potential threat level of B.1.526, health officials say it accounts for approximately 34 percent of all positive samples studied since January. The prevalence of all variants has increased dramatically since January.
At this time, variants of concern and those of interest accounted for approximately 10% of all cases studied. By mid-March, they accounted for more than 70 percent of genetically sequenced cases in laboratories. The Brazilian variant represents only about 2% of the samples studied since January, but municipal officials say their presence is growing.
Financial support The city has recently updated its variant data.
Variants B.1.526 and B.1.1.7 have been detected in all five districts, although the former is slightly more common in the Bronx and parts of Queens. The UK strain is slightly more common south of Brooklyn, east of Queens and Staten Island.
So far, the city has found no evidence so far that either of these two strains will reduce the effectiveness of vaccines, health officials said. But more needs to be studied.
Financial support This map shows the detection of the Washington Heights variant.
Financial support This map shows the prevalence of the UK variant.
“So far, cases of reinfection and cases in fully vaccinated people are rare. It is too early to know if any of these variants are more likely to cause reinfection or advancement in vaccine compared to other previously circulating variants,” say the Health Commissioner, Dr. Chave. Chokshi said. “The increase in the proportion of cases that are variants indicates that they may be more transmissible, so New Yorkers should continue to be vaccinated when they are eligible and adhere to the Four Cores.”
Although new daily cases, hospitalizations, and confirmed virus deaths decreased in the last two-week period studied, new cases decreased at a slower rate (20%) than hospitalizations (41%) and deaths ( 30.5%), according to the data.
The decline in more severe outcomes may be associated with higher vaccination rates among the most vulnerable populations, city officials have reported. Similar trends are occurring across the country, which sees declining mortality and hospitalization rates for the elderly, but the proportion of younger people in COVID emergency rooms is increasing.
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New cases and emergency room visits have increased in younger adults, “most of whom have not yet been vaccinated,” said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
Walensky says the cause of the rise remains under investigation, but is among experts who have expressed concern that COVID-19 variants contribute to higher spread rates at a critically vulnerable time in national vaccine deployment. .
The UK strain is now the predominant strain in the U.S. According to the latest CDC report, about 21,000 positive U.S. samples contained the UK variant, known as B.1.1.7, in all 52 U.S. jurisdictions. This variant accounted for 27% of all positive samples tested in the last two-week period, compared with 12% in the previous two-week period.
The South African and Brazilian variants, B.1.351 and P.1., Are still less common, but the prevalence of each continues to increase nationally. The South African variant has been detected in at least 453 American samples in 36 states, while P.1. the strain has been found in nearly 500 samples in 31 states, according to the CDC. Genomic sequencing to detect variants is an exhaustive process. The CDC had only been evaluating a small fraction of cases until recent months; then the presence of more transmissible strains increased.
New York and New Jersey, which were among the five states that accounted for 44 percent of new daily cases nationwide a week ago, according to data from Johns Hopkins, have also stepped up their genomic sequencing efforts. The city has sequenced more than 5 percent of confirmed case copies in recent weeks, which is high.
New Jersey health officials say they expect to be able to sequence a similar percentage as early as this week; previously, scientists sequenced only 2 percent of the samples.
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To date, New Jersey has reported about 960 variant cases. The UK strain accounts for 98 per cent. Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said Monday that strain B.1.1.7 appears to be associated with more serious outcomes in the state, depending on hospitalizations and mortality rates. Hospitalizations are also on the rise among people aged 18 to 24, which coincides with Walensky’s warnings nationwide.
In New York City, variant B.1.1.7 has been identified in 1,586 samples over the last seven-day period studied, an increase of 169 percent over the data reported over a seven-day period two weeks earlier. . Genomic sequencing of a subset of virus specimens taken from city residents during the week beginning March 22 found that an estimated 29.5 percent were B.1.1.7, according to the latest city data.
Daily percentage of positive tests by New York region
Gov. Andrew Cuomo divides the state into 10 test regions and tracks positivity rates to identify potential hot spots. The most recent monitoring data by region and for the five municipalities are shown below. For the latest county-level results, click here
More than 34 percent of the samples studied in the same period were variant B.1.526, the strain believed to have originated in Washington Heights before spreading to other neighborhoods and states. This New York variant was present in 6% of all U.S. cases that tested the two-week period that ended March 13, up from 4% in the previous two-week period, according to the CDC.
In general, the three nationally authorized emergency vaccines for emergency use are said to be very effective in reducing the serious outcomes and deaths associated with COVID-19; they are also believed to be effective in preventing new infections. Here’s everything you need to know about the Big 3, including the effectiveness of each and their comparison.
The hope and plan is for the increase in vaccinations to finally overcome the spread of variants and for people to adhere to precautions until they do. So far, New York City has completely vaccinated about 22.4 percent of its population, while 35.4 percent has had at least one shot. Across the state, 24.9% of the population is fully vaccinated, while 37.9% have had at least one shot.
In New Jersey, about a quarter of the population is completely vaccinated. Garden State will open requirements for all residents 16 years of age or older on Monday. New York did the same early last week, while Connecticut made that universal push the week before.
President Joe Biden has set a deadline of April 19 for all states to make vaccines universally available to adults. Nationally, about 46.5 percent of American adults over the age of 18 have received at least one dose, while 28.6 percent are fully inoculated.
Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have asked the FDA to expand the emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine to include adolescents ages 12 to 15.
The United States reported 4.6 million doses of vaccine administered on Saturday, a new one-day record, as the country sees an average of about 69,000 new cases of COVID a day, a level in line with the increase in summer 2020, according to data from Johns Hopkins. That figure has risen 7 percent from about a week ago.
The seven-day average of new daily deaths is around 962, which is also similar to summer 2020 levels, according to the university.
According to the CDC, it is still unclear how long the protection for vaccinated people lasts, although new research suggests that protection against Moderna vaccine lasts at least six months. It takes about two weeks after the final shot to create immunity.
Recent research suggests that even a shot of Moderna or Pfizer is up to 80 percent effective in preventing infection, but experts say Americans should still receive both doses. A single dose of one of these vaccines in a place where more contagious variants proliferate is less effective in preventing infection, city health officials say.