The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has labeled the so-called California strain of coronavirus a "variant of concern," as it now becomes the most dominant in the state.
University of California, San Francisco researchers said the variant is 20% more infectious than the original virus.
The UK, Brazil and South African strains are also "variants of concern." The label simply means the California or West Coast strain is now on the CDC's watchlist.
The UCSF study showed that if people were infected before with this now dominant strain, those antibodies won't necessarily protect them from getting sick again, which is why everyone needs to get vaccinated.
UCSF Epidemiologist Dr. George Rutherford said that the math shows the vaccines are still effective.
"Vaccine induces 17-times more neutralizing antibody than we need to neutralize the virus," he told KCBS Radio. "Even the South African version, which is thought of as being very problematic, reduces at six-fold, so that’s still three-times more than we need. This only reduces by 15 percent, so we end up with eight-and-a-half-times more than we need. So, that’s why I say 'ho hum.'"
But if the variant does manage to skirt antibodies, it could mean immunity won't last as long.
Meanwhile, a second case of the South African variant has been found in Santa Clara County. Doctors said that person was infected through community transmission and not via travel.
This is the fourth one in the state. The other two were in Alameda County.
March 18, 2021 at 11:28PM
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CDC labels California coronavirus strain 'variant of concern' - KCBS
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