NEW YORK (AP) – Another mutant version of the coronavirus appeared in New York City, and experts responded to the news with a mixture of caution and concern.
The new variant first appeared in the New York area in late November and has since emerged in neighboring states, according to researchers at the California Institute of Technology, one of the two teams that shared their work this week.
But it remains to be seen how problematic the variant can be. Viruses are constantly changing – or making typos in their genetic code – as they spread and make copies of themselves.
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“Most are not of particular concern,” said François Balloux, director of the Institute of Genetics at University College London. However, he added: “Noticing them in advance, signaling them, raising concerns is helpful.”
That’s because some genetic adjustments can be worrisome, especially if they help the virus spread more easily, make it more deadly, or reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. Scientists use genome sequencing and other research to find out what the potential problems are.
New York City health officials and Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday sought to quell concerns about the new variant, emphasizing that the new research is preliminary and little is known about the variant.
A man passes an empty store on the left, which is available for rent, Monday, February 8, 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic in New York. (AP Photo / Mark Lennihan)
“Some variants are just that, they are variants.” said Dr. Jay Varma, the mayor’s senior health advisor.
Two research groups – at Caltech and Columbia University in New York – published articles this week describing their findings about the new variant. None of the articles has been published or reviewed by other scientists.
The Caltech researchers found that the new variant appeared in about a quarter of the 1,200 virus strings they examined this month. The variant also appeared in New Jersey and Connecticut and made “isolated appearances across the country,” said Anthony West of CalTech, co-author of the article.
On Thursday, researchers at Columbia University released their research that analyzed about 1,100 virus samples from patients treated at the university’s medical center, dating back to November. During the second week of February, the new variant was identified in 12% of the samples, they reported. They also found that patients infected with the mutant virus were more likely to be older and were hospitalized.
Both groups noted that the new variant has a mutation that could weaken the vaccine’s effectiveness – a mutation seen in other worrying variants.
A man walks with his bicycle on Monday, February 8, 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic in New York. (AP Photo / Mark Lennihan)
“Clearly there is something to keep an eye on,” said Balloux.
New variants have appeared during the pandemic, but three are considered to be the most worrying – they have been designated as “worrying variants”. They were first detected in Britain, South Africa and Brazil, but have spread to other countries.
What was identified in the UK last year was found in 45 U.S. states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The strain is worrying because it has many mutations, almost two dozen. Some are in the spiny protein that the virus uses to bind and infect cells – and that current vaccines and antibody drugs target.
One of the spike protein mutations is seen in the variants discovered at the beginning in Brazil and South Africa and, now, in the new variant in New York.
A variant that has been spreading in California is also drawing attention. It was found in 40 to 50 percent of samples examined by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, according to director Barbara Ferrer. But there is not enough research to determine what effect your mutations can have, if any.
Doctors administer the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine at Lawrence Presbyterian Hospital in New York on Friday, January 8, 2021, in Bronxville, New York (AP Photo / Kevin Hagen).
After what many have described as a slow start, the federal government in recent weeks has increased its genetic sequencing to look for and study variants of viruses to find out which may be a problem. Meanwhile, Ana S. Gonzalez Reiche, a virologist at the Icahn School of Medicine on Mount Sinai, asked for caution.
“Without evidence, we don’t need to be alarmed about each variant detected,” she said.
Studies are raising concern that first-generation COVID-19 vaccines do not work as well against a variant that first appeared in South Africa as they do against other versions. In response, pharmaceutical companies are already figuring out how to modify their vaccines.
Experts say that in the meantime, public health measures, such as social detachment and masks, will reduce the opportunities for the coronavirus to continue mutating and spreading.
“Variants will occur,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, told NBC on Thursday. “The trick is when they occur, to prevent them from spreading.”
