California Has Its Own COVID Variant

Misbar has discovered that the variant, which is called B.1.427/B.1.429, first caught the attention of scientists in November 2020 and is thought to have emerged in May according to The Guardian. The variant has been detected in 19 countries, and all across the US, though limited surveillance has found it concentrated in California.

According to Science, the new strain of the pandemic coronavirus appears to be somewhat more transmissible and heightens patients’ risk of admission to the intensive care unit and death, according to two new studies yet to be peer reviewed. According to the researchers of the studies, the California variant is located across the U.S. but is primarily in California and is rapidly spreading. In one study in a San Francisco neighborhood, the variant represented 53 percent of the positive test samples collected between January 10th and the 27th. That was a significant increase from November when the variant comprised only 16 percent of the positive tests.

According to an infectious disease expert at the University of California San Francisco, “I am not panicked, and you shouldn’t be either.” All evidence indicates that the vaccines currently approved in the U.S. have protected and will continue to protect people against the California variant.