Photo: Pixabay
on April 8, 2021
Amid a recent increase in COVID-19 variant cases in Santa Clara County, researchers at the Stanford Clinical Virology Lab discovered another new variant in the county, called the “double mutant.” It was first reported in India and is now the first confirmed case in California.
Higher transmissibility and reduced immune response against the variant are concerning, but “it seems likely that our current vaccines, especially the mRNA products, will remain effective,” wrote infectious disease clinical professor Stanley Deresinski in an email to The Daily.
Every variant of concern has now been detected in Santa Clara County, including the B.1.1.7 strain originally discovered in the United Kingdom, B.1.351 in South Africa, P.1 in Brazil, B.1.525 and B.1.52 in New York and L452R, now known as B.1.427 and B.1.429, in California.
The first two California cases of the South African SARS-CoV-2 variant were recently detected by surveillance efforts at Stanford’s Clinical Virology Lab.
Stanford Health Care (Photo: STEVE FISCH/Stanford Health Care)
on February 7, 2021
Following the global and local emergence of COVID-19 variants, Stanford researchers predict that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will continue to be mostly effective in the near future, though each of the new strains responds differently to the current vaccines.
Multiple variants have been identified to date, but the most concerning ones are the B.1.1.7 strain discovered in the United Kingdom, B.1.351 in South Africa and P.1 in Brazil –– all of which have already reached the United States. Recently, the new L452R strain identified in Denmark caused outbreaks in Santa Clara County.
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