In California, the worrying South African strain of coronavirus has appeared, which appears to be more contagious and more resistant to some vaccines, and the first two cases are resident in the bay area.
Scientists at Stanford University on Tuesday detected two cases of the variant, known as B.1.351, one in Santa Clara County and one in Alameda County, Gov. Gavin Newsom told a news conference on Monday. Fresno. It is unclear how people became infected.
First discovered in South Africa in October, the variant has now been found in more than 30 other countries. It was first detected in the United States in January in South Carolina and is found in at least four states, although only a handful of cases have been found.
Experts say the South African strain is up to 50% more contagious than other variants. However, the South African strain does not look more deadly, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Its emergence raises concerns about the protection that current vaccines against the strain will offer. Early research suggests that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines work against it, but that their effectiveness may be slightly reduced compared to other strains.
Even if a vaccine is less potent against the variant, it will still protect people from hospitalization or death, according to data from clinical trials. But research suggests that immunity may not last as long or not reduce transmission.
“It simply came to our notice then. It’s significant if these cases represent a real community transmission, “said Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist at UC San Francisco.” It needs to be intensively investigated. “
Rutherford said as the coronavirus continues to mutate, California, the United States and the world are in a race to vaccinate people as quickly as possible to curb the spread.
“People should avoid getting infected as we’ve always said,” Rutherford said. “If you have risk factors, if you’re older, if you walk into a crowd, like the supermarket, I would definitely put on two masks. And get vaccinated when it’s your turn. “
Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County Health Officer, said the affected person in Santa Clara County is an adult who traveled internationally in mid-January, but Cody did not say where. The person presented with symptoms after returning and was quarantined at home for 10 days, as required by county regulations. The person was not hospitalized and has recovered, he said. Another person living in the home also fell ill and was quarantined, but the test was not done.
“The encouraging news of our end is that this person, on returning immediately to quarantine,” Cody said. “We don’t know of any opportunities to spread the word in our community.”
Less information was published on the case of Alameda County. Dr. Nicholas Moss, a health officer in Alameda County, said the person “is no longer infectious to others,” but offered no further details.
Both Cody and Moss said COVID cases are generally declining. But they warned that the figures are still above pre-Thanksgiving levels and that if residents of the bay area lower their guard, there would be another increase in March or April due to new variants. more contagious.
“We should be prepared that if things start to move in the opposite direction, we should increase restrictions again,” Moss said.
For now, California continues to make steady progress in the pandemic. A month ago, the state reported nearly 50,000 new cases of COVID a day. There are now 8,400. The number of people hospitalized in the state with COVID has dropped 34% compared to two weeks ago and ICU cases dropped 28%.
New vaccination centers open at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium, Oakland Coliseum, San Diego’s Petco Park and elsewhere. The statewide positivity rate, up 13.9% two weeks ago, has dropped to 4.8%.
“We’re seeing progress in all categories,” Newsom said, adding that California receives one million doses of vaccine per week from the federal government and needs more.
As of Wednesday, 5.1 million Californians have received at least one dose. The state ranks 19th out of 50 states in per capita vaccinations, ahead of most other major states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Ohio. To get the herd immunity and end the spread, however, about 75% of people, or 30 million Californians, need shots, experts said.
Finding viral variants and quickly identifying new mutations is critical to controlling the pandemic.
The bay area cases were found by the Stanford Clinical Virology Laboratory, which discovered the two cases in 1,708 selected specimens, said Dr. Ben Pinsky, the lab’s medical director.
Stanford uses a technology called reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction or RT-PCR. This projection looks for the two mutations that are characteristic of this variant. It also looks for mutations related to other variants. Their identity was confirmed by sequencing the entire genome.
“We have to wait for the virus to continue to adapt and change,” Cody said. “So it’s important that we continue to do everything we can to prevent every opportunity from spreading.”
Although the South African variant accounts for only a fraction of global COVID-19 infections, scientists are already studying how to improve vaccines to better target them.
On Tuesday, researchers at the University of Texas reported that the Pfizer vaccine is effective in stopping the South African strain and also another mutation in the virus called the UK variant. Last month, Moderna officials announced that their vaccine protects against South African and British variants.
But the South African government stopped the launch on Sunday of a third vaccine, made by AstraZeneca, after initial studies found it only provides “minimal protection” against the new variant. AstraZeneca scientists say they are updating their vaccine to increase their ability to fight the new strain. The AstraZeneca vaccine is not yet approved for use in the United States.
On Wednesday, South African health officials said they would begin using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Tests showed that the vaccine, which is pending approval in the United States and is expected to have a green light by the end of this month, was 57% effective in preventing moderate to severe COVID-19. against the South African variant and 85% to prevent serious illness.