CORONAVIRUS VARIANTS CAUSE CONCERN
CORONAVIRUS VARIANTS CAUSE CONCERN
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In a time of optimism as vaccines are administered across the country, new COVID-19 variants spark worry
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED ON 4/8
The coronavirus has been wreaking havoc across the world for more than a year. It began to change Americans' daily lives around March of 2020. Mandatory quarantines for entire cities, national mask policies, and the loss of more than two million lives globally have all shown the power of this virus.
This image is in the public domain. Credit to: Alissa Eckert, MSMI; Dan Higgins, MAMS
After several months of living through the pandemic, it looked like everything would return to normal. Daily cases in the U.S. were steadily decreasing, going from 250,000 daily cases to 50,000-70,000. States were beginning to reopen and repair the damage from COVID-19.
Unfortunately, it seems that all that progress was not enough to prevent the virus from mutating.
A virus mutating is not unheard of; it’s a major part of every outbreak. When a virus is constantly multiplying, it doesn’t perfectly replicate its genes. Mutations caused by these imperfect replications are extremely common and normally benign.
The problem with the coronavirus mutations is that since there are over 100 million total cases, there could be hundreds of thousands of mutations. The virus is constantly mutating, mutating on top of other mutations, and using ‘survival of the fittest’ to infect as many people as possible.
With so many mutations, there are bound to be a few that make the virus more contagious or dangerous. Several new COVID-19 mutations have caused concern around the world.
The New Variants
The CDC has alienated three current COVID-19 variants to evaluate how much of a threat they pose. B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P.1 have all been singled out on the CDC webpage because they could endanger the population and they have made their way to America. Other variants, like B.1.526 or B.1.429, have been discovered in distinct regions of the U.S.
Most of these variants have multiple distinct mutations that work together to increase their transmissibility, make the virus more dangerous, or to prevent vaccines and antibodies from protecting the host’s body.
COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 emerged in the U.K. sometime around September of 2020, but the specifics are very difficult to ascertain. The CDC Director said that someone with this variant can infect somewhere between 40% and 90% more people than someone with the original strain of COVID-19. There’s also evidence to support the idea that the virus could be as much as 50% more "virulent," or harmful. So far, about 16,275 cases have occurred in the U.S. alone. This strain, also called 20I/501Y.V1, is most concerning because of its virulence, its extremely contagious nature, and its major presence in the U.S.
Variant B.1.351 was found in South Africa but has since travelled to the U.S., with 386 cases having occurred domestically. Also known as coronavirus variant 501Y.V2, its mutations can allow it to spread more easily. There's also some concern that this strain of the virus may be less susceptible to a vaccine. Mutation N501Y helps it stick to human cells, making it more easily transmitted. Researchers are working to understand the variant and how it spreads, but it’s not the only mutation with those capabilities.
Variant P.1, or 20J/501Y.V3, appeared in Brazil sometime after November of 2020. This variant has a very similar mutation to the B.1.351, potentially making vaccines less effective against this variant. It has also ‘re-infected’ multiple individuals, perhaps indicating that herd immunity would be more difficult to achieve with this strain. It has very few cases in the U.S., already with 356, but in Brazil it made up 42% of cases from late December. Canada has been hit hard by this virus, with almost three times as many cases as the U.S.
Another variant, B.1.429, has the same mutation. Called “antibody-resistant E484K mutation”, it seems to be appearing in most of the concerning cases of reinfection. Variant B.1.429 emerged in California alongside B.1.427, and both have been dubbed the ‘California variant.’ Infectious disease researchers predicted the variant could account for 90% of all new California cases by the end of March. It has also been found in large numbers in states Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.
Variant B.1.526 is very concentrated in the Northeast of America, particularly in New York. This variant is actually a combination of two variants with the E484K mutation and the S477N mutation, amongst others. The variant accounts for 27% of cases in Caltech’s database for New York, but so far, it hasn’t spread as quickly in other states.
What We Know About Their Impact
Data from South Africa show multiple cases of individuals contracting a certain variant of COVID-19 after fully recovering from a different variant. Since it constantly mutates, this could lead to cycles of the virus coming back and reinfecting people regularly. Luckily, the human body also changes and adapts to survive after long-term exposure.
Those who previously contracted the virus or had a vaccine had less severe forms of the virus, meaning vaccines will still be useful against new variants even if they don’t provide 100% immunity. Reinfection also has been proven to prevent future reinfection, so if you get COVID-19 twice you are far less likely to get it again, even if there's a new variant.
A clinical trial showed the Novavax and Johnson & Johnson vaccines were less capable of fighting off severe symptoms of COVID-19 against the South African variants, including B.1.351. Novavax’s vaccine was 90% efficacious in the U.K., but its number dropped to 50% when facing South African virus variants. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 57% effective.
Currently, there are studies all over the world trying to understand the coronavirus variants, how to prevent these mutations from reaching new populations, and what can be done to save lives. Pfizer and Moderna have both stated they are working to prepare booster shots to better fight the variants.
How the States Are Handling COVID-19
With these new variants appearing across the U.S., several states may have to change their plans. A majority of states have most businesses open and some form of a mask mandate. Reopening seemed like a good idea because the number of daily cases was steadily decreasing, but most of these states still had very high numbers. The daily cases were less than in late 2020, but individual states have more daily cases than entire countries.
President Biden’s administration has said they are not considering a lockdown. Biden prefers to put up guidelines and restrictions that will help keep the economy stable while stifling the spread.
It will take a long time for researchers to compile all of the data and search for these specific variants, but the current data shows states Florida, Michigan, Colorado, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and California have high levels of cases involving these new variants. Pennsylvania, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Georgia, Ohio, and Maryland all have enough cases to cause concern.
With three vaccines approved and ready to be administered in the U.S., some states are moving toward fully reopening. The most prominent example is Texas, whose governor declared that their mask mandate was officially null on March 2nd. States like Alabama and Colorado have extended their stay-at-home orders or reinstated mask mandates, while others have lifted most if not all restrictions. But because the variants are just now coming to the eye of the public, only a few plans have been made to fight against them. Many state officials have become wary of reopening until they see a reduction in the variant cases. Officials are acting cautiously but still planning to maintain their eventual reopening plans.
This is Alicia's second year at Edgewood and first year on the Edge staff. She loves writing, debating, and bettering Brevard. She hopes to educate and entertain the members of her community.
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