Houston is the first city in the country to record all major variants of the new coronavirus – many of which are more contagious than the original strain.
“The numbers of the main variants that we identified in our large sequencing study are disturbing,” said Dr. James Musser, who leads the team of experts at Houston Methodist Hospital behind the new discovery. “Genome data indicates that these important variants are now widely distributed geographically in the Houston metropolitan area.”
It comes just a week after the constantly evolving number of virus deaths in the United States has surpassed the half-million mark, a dismal number that Musser and other experts believe will continue to increase unless Americans reduce social distance, masks and vaccination efforts.
Since the virus was first detected in the Houston region almost a year ago, Musser’s team has sequenced more than 20,000 genomes of COVID-19. The most recent batch of about 3,000 sequenced genomes of patients tested positive for COVID-19 included variants from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.
Experts are still researching new strains and the effectiveness of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. But there is no reason to panic, said Dr. Wesley Long, a Methodist infectious disease specialist who helped with the study.
There is evidence that the Brazilian strain is more contagious and can infect those who received vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna, said Musser.
But Long said variations in vaccine effectiveness are minimal and do not undermine the overall goal of vaccines: preventing serious illness, hospitalization or death.
“This does not mean that (current vaccines) are useless,” he said. “This does not mean that (the new strains) pass through walls or defeat masks or that they change the way they are transmitted. All the rules we use against COVID still apply. “
Your advice: Continue to distance yourself socially, wear masks and get vaccinated as soon as possible – regardless of the brand available.
Last month, researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch released an article that concluded that the Pfizer vaccine is effective against strains in South Africa and the United Kingdom. UTMB researchers found that the vaccine is more effective against the UK variant than the South African one, although the difference is “very modest”, said Dr. Pei-Yong Shi, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at UTMB .
Shi said the research team is studying all new variants, including those from the UK, South Africa and the Brazilian strain, and a new strain that is proliferating in California.
Each variant appears to be more transmissible than the original coronavirus, said Shi.
“The virus will continue to evolve as the surroundings vary over time,” he said. “In the first year, from the end of 2019, (the virus) entered a new host, which is the human being. He had to adapt from there. “
Now that researchers know that the Pfizer vaccine is effective against these two variants, more studies are underway at UTMB, including attempts to identify common amino acid mutations.
The first results of these tests may be available this month.
Texas has routinely ranked among the worst in any state for vaccines per capita, although last week it brought a wave of positive developments to local and national efforts.
On Wednesday, the state’s largest vaccination center opened in NRG Park, as well as two other major sites in the Dallas area. Authorities hope to inoculate about 126,000 people at NRG Park in the next two months, which will also decrease the demand for doses at smaller pharmacies and community health clinics in the region.
Authorities are also monitoring the effects of last month’s ice storm on the region’s COVID outlook, which generally tended in a positive direction in the past few weeks.
While thousands of Houstonians lost energy due to the storm, prolonged chaos interrupted vaccinations and tests in many parts of the state, which means that the extent of the spread of COVID is not yet known.
Regardless, said Long, now is not the time for complacency.
“People just need to keep doing what they are doing,” said Long.
Shi agreed: “I strongly believe that the vaccine needs to be implemented as soon as possible and fall into the arms of as many people as possible. It is the only way to slow down the spread of variants and will definitely prevent us from developing serious illnesses or dying. “