The worrying South African coronavirus strain, which is believed to be more contagious and resistant to vaccines ”]emerged in California, and the first two cases are resident in the bay area.
Stanford University scientists detected two cases of the variant, known as B.1.351 – one in Santa Clara County and the other in Alameda County – in tests on Tuesday, Governor Gavin Newsom said during a news conference in Fresno. It is not clear how people were 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 now in at least four states, although only a few cases have been found.
Experts say the South African strain is up to 50% more contagious than other variants of the virus. The South African strain does not appear to be more deadly, however, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.
Its emergence is raising concerns about how much protection current vaccines will offer against the strain. Early research suggests that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines work against it, but that their effectiveness may be somewhat reduced compared to other strains.
Even if a vaccine is less powerful against the variant, it will still protect people from hospitalization or death, according to clinical trial data. But the research suggests that immunity may not last as long or may not reduce transmission.
“It’s worrying. It is significant whether these cases represent the true transmission of the community, ”said Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist at the University of California at San Francisco. “This needs to be investigated intensively.”
Rutherford said that 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 slow the spread.
“People should avoid being infected, as we always said,” said Rutherford. “If you have risk factors, if you’re older, if you’re going through a crowd, like at the supermarket, I would definitely use two masks. And be vaccinated when your turn comes. “
Santa Clara County Health Officer, Dr. Sara Cody, 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 developed symptoms after returning and being quarantined at home for 10 days, as county rules require. The person was not hospitalized and recovered, she said. Another person who lives in the house also became ill and was quarantined, but did not get tested.
“The encouraging news on our side is that this person, upon returning immediately, was quarantined,” said Cody. “We don’t know of any opportunities for expansion in our community.”
Less information was released about the Alameda County case. Dr. Nicholas Moss, Alameda County health officer, said the person “is no longer infectious to others”, but offered no other details.
Both Cody and Moss said that COVID cases in general are decreasing, which is good news. But they warned that the numbers are still above pre-Thanksgiving levels and that if Bay Area residents let their guard down, there may be another increase in March or April due to the more contagious new variants.
“We must be prepared so that if things start to move in the opposite direction, we will have to tighten restrictions again,” said Moss.
For now, California continues to make steady progress in the pandemic. A month ago, the state reported nearly 50,000 new COVID cases a day. Now there are 8,400. The number of people hospitalized across the state with COVID fell 34% compared to two weeks ago, and cases of UTI fell 28%.
Major new vaccination centers are opening at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Oakland Coliseum, Petco Park in San Diego and elsewhere. The positivity rate across the state, 13.9% two weeks ago, dropped to 4.8%.
“We are seeing progress across all categories,” said Newsom, adding that California is receiving 1 million doses of the vaccine a week from the federal government and needs more.
On Wednesday, 5.1 million Californians received at least one dose. The state ranks 19th out of 50 states now in vaccination per capita, ahead of most other major states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Ohio. To achieve collective immunity and stop the spread, however, about 75% of people, or 30 million Californians, need injections, 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 found the two cases in 1,708 screened specimens, said Dr. Ben Pinsky, the lab’s medical director.
Stanford uses a technology called reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, or RT-PCR. This screening seeks the two mutations characteristic of this variant. It also looks for mutations linked to other variants. His identity was confirmed by sequencing the entire genome.
“We should expect the virus to continue to adapt and change,” said Cody. “Therefore, it is important that we continue to do everything in our power to avoid all opportunities for spread.”
Although the South African variant is responsible for only a fraction of the worldwide COVID-19 infections, scientists are already studying how to improve vaccines to better fight it.
On Tuesday, researchers at the University of Texas reported that the Pfizer vaccine is effective in stopping the South African strain, as well as another mutation of the virus called the UK variant. Last month, Moderna officials announced that their vaccine protects against South African and UK variants.
But the South African government on Sunday suspended the launch of a third vaccine, made by AstraZeneca, after initial studies found that it provides only “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 has not yet been approved for use in the United States.
On Wednesday, South African health officials said they would start using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Tests have shown that the vaccine, which is pending approval in the United States and should receive the green light later this month, was 57% effective in preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 against the South African variant and 85% effective in preventing serious illness.