What to know
- The NYT reported, in part citing unpublished research from Columbia University, that a new variant appeared to be emerging in the city with a mutation that could weaken vaccine effectiveness
- Neither city nor state officials had spoken publicly about the research; Dr. Jay Varma, the mayor’s senior health advisor, encouraged skepticism: ‘Not all variants are of public health interest’
- The newspaper did not immediately respond to criticism of the story; the Columbia doctor quoted said: ‘It is strange that we are being criticized for doing good science to alert the city to what is happening’
A New York Times report on a possible new variant of COVID spreading in New York City is causing waves, but scientists and the city were quick to criticize what they said was the potentially premature launch of unfinished research.
The Times reported on Wednesday, in part citing unpublished research from Columbia University, that a new variant appeared to be popping up in the city with a mutation that could weaken vaccine effectiveness.
Neither city nor state health officials had spoken publicly about this new development, and it immediately raised concerns about the prospect of another disease outbreak.
But prominent figures were quick to criticize both Columbia and the Times for reporting what they suggested was unfinished work.
“It wasn’t even a ‘pre-press’ – I was asked to comment on the draft manuscript of someone who still had tracked changes and did not include the figures. Based on that, the NYT wrote a story. This is an absolute mess,” wrote Nathan Grubaugh, a professor at the Yale School of Public Health, on Twitter.
With new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus circulating, health experts are adjusting their recommendations for face masks. NBC News medical correspondent Dr. John Torres joined LX News to explain why you should ensure that your face mask is properly fitted and folded.
The city also reported on the early release of the data, with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s spokesman censoring the university and the newspaper.
“It’s great that Columbia and other academics are looking for variants of COVID. But please, for the love of all that is sacred, share the data with public health officials before publishing pre-recordings that still have tracking changes. with the NY Times. That’s all, “Bill Neidhardt tweeted on Thursday morning.
One of De Blasio’s top scientific advisers also criticized the report, and similar ones, as “pathogenic pornography” that did not help public health efforts.
“Appeal to academics: review the high-impact studies with government health departments before releasing them to the media. It remains for us to decipher the science of the journalist’s summary as we respond to calls from elected officials, the public and the media about how it works changes policy. helping public health “, Dr. Jay Varma tweeted early Thursday.
In an interview with LX News, Dr. Anthony Fauci addressed coronavirus multiplier mutations, including a UK variant that is considered to be more deadly as well as contagious. Watch the full interview with Dr. Fauci on NBCLX this Tuesday at 8:00 am and 8:00 pm Eastern Time.
He made that point later in the mayor’s daily coronavirus briefing, encouraging New Yorkers to “be a little skeptical” about what they read.
“Not all variants are of interest to public health. Some variants are just that – they are variants, they are just a little bit different. Some variants are variants of interest – they have changes in their structure that can alter the” property “virus,” he said. Varma, senior public health adviser in the mayor’s office. “And some variants are variants of what we call a public health concern – they have these mutations and we have enough data to show that they change if the virus is more infectious, if it is more lethal, you can change immunity. “
Regarding the Columbia report, Varma said: “We just need to consider this a variant of interest – something that is interesting that we need to follow and track. But it does not change anything in our concern for public health. We need more data and studies to understand that. “
Dr. Dave Chokshi, the city health commissioner who fought COVID-19 earlier this month, said there is no evidence at this point to suggest that the variant identified in the Columbia report contributed to the case trajectory, that he emphasized that they continue to decline from the most recent peak of the holiday.
“We also have no evidence that the variant is concentrated anywhere in the city,” said Chokshi. “The science around this is just less established compared to other variants like the UK variant, which we are also following closely. As we get information from these new studies, they remain quite exploratory with respect to the effects of real world – – and this is the most important from the point of view of public health. ”
With new variants of COVID-19 from the UK, South Africa and Brazil spreading, doctors are rushing to vaccinate as many Americans as possible before more mutations emerge. Dr. Natasha Bhuyan, regional director of One Medical, joined LX News to talk about why vaccines are so important at the moment and how it encourages patients to overcome their skepticism about it.
A scientist, Eric Topol, went to Twitter to ask why the report on a possible “scary” had been published without review in the biomedical community. (The story, in addition to the Columbia survey, also cited publicly available data, but also pre-published data from Caltech.)
The author of the Times story responded to Topol with his reasoning.
“To be fair, I convinced them to let me write about it so that readers could see both lines of evidence at the same time. And everyone I quoted saw the manuscript and thought it looked legitimate. It should come out soon! ), “Apoorva Mandavilli tweeted Wednesday night in response to Topol.
The newspaper was not immediately available to comment on criticisms of the story.
Columbia University doctor Dr David Ho, who runs the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, told News 4: “It is strange that we are being criticized for doing good science to alert the city to what is happening. city officials were notified a few weeks ago. The NY Times started with another Caltech preprint that appeared a few days ago. “
Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Thursday that new data indicates that existing COVID-19 vaccines are still effective against new variants. “Now, from the reports we literally have as of today, it looks like vaccines will still be effective against them, with the big caveat that you should pay close attention to that,” said Fauci.
New York City officials, while having problems with the Times report on any locally emerging variant, have repeatedly expressed concern about other, more transmissible strains of coronavirus that have become more prevalent in the U.S.
Varma encouraged information sharing to continue, even after criticism; it is just a matter of qualifying the data if it is released to the public.
“We definitely want all of our academic partners to work closely with us, sharing their data, sharing their findings, because this is a challenging battle and public health is a team activity,” he said.
Variant B.1.1.7, which first appeared in the UK last year, has spread to almost every state in America, 45 according to the latest CDC report. So far, New York State has confirmed at least 154 cases of this strain, which city officials say is more lethal, according to preliminary evidence from the United Kingdom, than previously believed, and is more contagious. New Jersey confirmed 50 of those cases.
The South African variant has different mutations in addition to those found in the UK strain, which raises concerns about the effectiveness of current vaccines against it. Moderna will soon begin clinical trials of a COVID booster dose for the South African variant, citing a weaker immune response to its two-dose regimen against this specific strain. This variant is still relatively rare in the US
New York has confirmed two cases so far, both in Nassau County, while the CDC reports 46 cases detected in 14 states. In comparison, the United Kingdom strain was found in almost 2,000 samples in the United States.
Dr. Anthony Fauci highlighted preliminary studies that indicate that coronavirus vaccines will have a positive impact in reducing the spread of COVID-19. “The vaccine is important not only for the health of the individual to protect him from infections and diseases … but it also has very important implications from the point of view of public health for interfering and reducing the dynamics of the outbreak.”
The CDC only updates its variant numbers three times a week, so the latest federal data may not reflect the most recent local data. New York City and the state have increased their testing and investigation of potentially new strains in recent weeks. The CDC is expected to update its numbers on Thursday, however.
In general, vaccines are expected to work on the variants that have emerged and on the new strains that will emerge over time. City officials said that engaging in the main mitigation efforts that contained spread in the first place – wearing a mask, social detachment, washing hands and staying home when sick – remains the most effective means of protecting against the most communicable strains.
“The most important message that New Yorkers need to hear is that we need you to continue doing all the things that we have been doing. We know this is painful and difficult, but persistence is really important,” said Varma. “Follow the guidelines on this, especially the guidelines on using two masks if you don’t have a tight fitting mask. When your time comes, get vaccinated.”