The first known cases of a COVID-19 variant originally found in South Africa were identified by researchers at Stanford University in two Bay Area residents, one in Alameda County and another in Santa Clara County.
Governor Gavin Newsom shared the news in a Press conference Wednesday, pointing out that, although the infection rates and hospitalizations in the state are generally low, the pandemic remains serious and people need to be aware of social distance and the use of facial coverings.
Newsom said on Wednesday, 30 genomics laboratories in the state identified 159 cases of one UK variant and 1,203 of two West Coast variants. The variant first detected in Brazil was not found in California, he said.
“The issue of mutations is at the top of the mind, not just here in the state of California, across this country, but more and more around the world,” Newsom told a news conference in Fresno.
The South African variant is one of several recent mutations of the virus, most of which involve changes in its spike protein – the part of the virus that allows it to enter human cells – that can make it more contagious and a little more resistant the vaccines.
It is normal for any virus to mutate, but concerns about the growing number of new variants of the coronavirus around the world are increasing, as some are more difficult to fight. Britain’s variant is more contagious and is believed to be more deadly than the original, while the South African variant may make vaccines a little less effective.
In South Africa, where the variant is now dominant, authorities will start vaccinating frontline healthcare professionals next week with an injection that is still being tested – an unorthodox strategy announced on Wednesday after the authorities have abandoned plans to use another vaccine that a small study suggests is minimally effective against the country’s dominant variant.
A small study that suggested that the AstraZeneca vaccine was poor in preventing mild to moderate illnesses caused by the variant disrupted South Africa’s vaccination campaign this week, when it was about to start. Experts say the vaccine – the only one authorized for general use in South Africa – can still prevent serious illnesses.
But authorities quickly turned their focus to Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine – which has only been approved for use in studies in South Africa and, in fact, has not yet been authorized for general use in any country. The company requested permission for emergency use from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the South African regulatory authority.
The first six cases of the UK variant in the bay area were all found in the county of Alameda. Two of them were students at UC Berkeley.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.