Viruses are constantly mutating and taking on new forms. The coronavirus has thousands of variants that have been identified. But several, including variants, first found in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil, are highly transmissible and have sparked concerns that vaccines may be less effective against them.
The same protective measures that have warded off the virus throughout the pandemic — maintaining social distancing, wearing masks, and washing our hands — are even more critical in the face of more transmissible variants.
The India variant (B.1.617)
Where and when was it discovered?
This variant was first detected in India in October.
Where is it now?
The B.1.617 variant has been found in 44 countries, including the U.K., South Africa, Uganda, and Kenya.
What makes it different?
This version of the coronavirus appears more transmissible than the original version and contains several mutations to the spike protein that might help it evade the body’s immune response.
Will vaccines work?
A preprint study suggests vaccines may be less effective against this variant, Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead of the World Health Organization’s coronavirus response, told reporters. She added that more study on the issue is needed.
Related:
With an eye on India, Africa ramps up monitoring of coronavirus variants
India is No. 102 in coronavirus genetic sequencing, leaving many unknowns on variants amid the surge
The South Africa variant (B.1.351)
Where and when was it discovered?
This mutation also called 501Y.V2, was found in South Africa in early October and announced in December, when the country’s health minister said the strain seemed to affect young people more than previous strains. This variant may have contributed to a surge of infections and hospitalizations across South Africa.
Where is it?
This mutation has been identified in more than 80 countries. On Jan. 28, South Carolina officials announced that this variant had affected two people there o travel history — the first instaninstanceis strain identified in the United States. It has since been found in at least three dozen other states.
What makes it different?
This mutation shares some similarities to the variant first identified in the U.K. and, like that strain, appears to be more transmissible. Gottlieb has suggested that this variant might be more resistant to antibody therapies. There is no evidence that it is more lethal.
There is some evidence that this variant could allow for reinfection: A man in France was in critical condition in mid-February after being infected with this strain four months after he was previously infected with the virus.
Will vaccines work?
The vaccines may have a diminished impact against this variant, but they probably will still be effective, top infectious-diseases expert Anthony S. Fauci said in January. Moderna has said its vaccine protects against the variant first identified in South Africa, with an important caveat: The vaccine-elicited antibodies were also less effective at neutralizing this mutation in a laboratory dish.
Pfizer and BioNTech released their study, not yet peer-reviewed, that suggests their vaccine effectively neutralizes this variant, though it was slightly less effective. On Jan. 29, Johnson & Johnson said its single-shot vaccine was robustly effective in a massive global trial, but its protection against sickness was weaker in South Africa.
Biotechnology company Novavax has also indicated that its vaccine was significantly less effective during a trial in South Africa. In South Africa, the distribution of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been halted. The health officials said that the line did not provide sufficient protection against mild and moderate cases caused by a new variant, heated
The first known patient reinfected with the South African coronavirus variant is in critical condition.
South Africa suspends Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine rollout after researchers report ‘minimal’ protection against coronavirus variant.
Mutated viruses may reinfect people already stricken once with covid-19, sparking debate and concerns.
The coronavirus variant identified in South Africa seen for the first time in the United States.
U.K. variant (B.1.1.7)
Where and when was it discovered?
This variant was first found in the United Kingdom, specifically in London and the nearby county of Kent, in September. It began spreading rapidly in Britain, Denmark, and Ireland in December. It is sometimes referred to as the “Kent” variant.
Where is it?
Dozens of countries have seen infections from this variant of the virus. In April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that this variant had become dominant in the United States.
What makes it different?
The variant first identified in the U.K. appears more transmissible than the more common strain. Preliminary data also suggests that this strain may be 30 to 70 percent more lethal than previous mutations.
Will vaccines work?
The scientific consensus is that the vaccines will remain effective against this mutation because those inoculations provoke an array of neutralizing antibodies and other immune-system responses. Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax have said their vaccines work against this variant.
Ravindra Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, found in a study of older adults that the immune response triggered by the Pfizer vaccine was modestly less effective against the variant first identified in the U.K.
Related
Virus variant first detected in the U.K. has been deadlier, study confirms
U.K. coronavirus variant spreading rapidly through the United States, study finds
Denmark is sequencing all coronavirus samples and has an alarming view of the U.K. variant
CDC warns highly transmissible coronavirus variant to become dominant in the U.S.
The New York variant (B.1.526)
Where and when was it discovered?
This variant, found in samples obtained as early as November, probably emerged in the Washington Heights section of New York, Fauci told reporters in March. By the middle of that month, this variant made up nearly half of the city’s new infections.
Where is it now?
Officials have reported this variant in at least 14 other states, including Texas, Wyoming, and Maryland, Bloomberg reported.
What makes it different?
Some scientists are concerned that this variant may be more transmissible than previous versions. Scott Gottlieb, former director of the Food and Drug Administration, expressed worry that a mutation on this variant could enable it to reinfect people who have already had the virus.
Will vaccines work?
This variant seems to have some resistance to existing vaccines, although not as much as the variant first detected in South Africa, Fauci said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.” Gottlieb said he was also concerned that this variant could partly elude the effects of vaccination.
Related
After weeks of declining cases, echoes of hot spots emerge in Upper Midwest, New York City area.
The ‘Eeek’ mutation (E484K)
Where and when was it discovered?
This might best be described as a mutation within a mutation. It’s called E484Kor “Eeek,” as epidemiologists call it — and it appears on some of the variants we describe below. It’s not new; it has seemed to be many times since the pandemic started, but experts have been concerned about it. It gained mainstream attention when it started to coincide with other more contagious variants.
Where is it?
Eeek has been seen in the variants first discovered in the U.K., South Africa, and Brazil. Since May, its also been detected in more than 200 samples of the virus sequenced in the United States. What makes it different?
The Eeek mutation changes the virus’s spike protein, which vaccines target. By itself, this mutation does not alter the virus significantly. The concern with this mutation is when paired with the other variants, which could help the virus evade detection and make neutralization by the human immune system less efficient.
Will vaccines work?
Scientists are actively trying to answer this question. Clinical trial data have indicated that vaccines were less effective in preventing infections with variants in South Africa featuring the mutation. But the vaccines still dramatically lowered the chance of severe illness or death.
Semi-related to the vaccine question: One study found preliminary evidence that patients in South Africa who had survived an earlier bout with the more common coronavirus were becoming infected a second time — though not severely ill — after exposure to the variant with this mutation.
Related
Worrisome E484K coronavirus mutation seen in the U.K. variant and some U.S. samples
Brazil variant (P. 1)
Where and when was it discovered?
Sequencing studies found the variant in Brazil, mainly in Rio de Janeiro, as early as July. Researchers in Japan discovered it in travelers from Brazil in January.
Where is it now?
On Jan. 25, Minnesota health officials confirmed the first U.S. case of this variant in a resident with recent travel history to Brazil. It has since been found in more than 30 states. It has been confirmed in more than two dozen countries, including Japan, Spain, and New Zealand.
What makes it different?
The variant has more than a dozen alterations, several of which are found on the virus’s spike protein, which binds the virus to a cell. Because of that, researchers think the strain is probably more transmissible. There is also some early evidence that antibodies might not recognize the P.1 variant, leading to reinfection.
Will vaccines work?
There’s no firm evidence suggesting that vaccines won’t work against the variant first identified in Brazil. However, scientists have raised the possibility that this variant can evade antibodies, which would impact the current vaccines’ effectiveness.
A study of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine published in March determined that it was highly effective at neutralizing the variant found in Brazil. Moderna has announced that it would develop a new vaccine tailored to a similar variant if an updated shot becomes necessary.
Related
The Amazonian city that hatched the Brazil variant has been crushed by it
First U.S. case of highly transmissible Brazil coronavirus variant identified in Minnesota
The Denmark/California mutation (L452R)
Where and when was it discovered?
This mutation was detected in Denmark in March.
Where is it now?
A variant with this mutation was found in California this winter. It became dominant there over five months, eventually making up more than half of infections in 44 of the state’s 58 counties. This mutation has also been confirmed in several other states.
What makes it different?
Evidence shows that this mutation enhances the virus’s ability to bind to human receptor cells, making it more transmissible. Some scientists are urging public-health officials to declare the variant with this mutation circulating in California a “variant of concern,” making it the first homegrown variant with this label.
Will vaccines work?
Some scientists think this mutation might make the virus more resistant to vaccines because the transformation is in the spike protein, enabling the virus to attach to cells. But scientists also say that more study is needed before they can conclude.
Related
New research shows California coronavirus variant is more transmissible
Another coronavirus variant linked to the growing share of cases, several large outbreaks in California
The original variant (D614G)
Where and when was it discovered?
This mutation, known to scientists simply as “G,” was discovered in China in January 2020. It soon spread through New York City and Europe.
Where is it?
The “G” mutation has become ubiquitous. By July, about 70 percent of the 50,000 genomes of the coronavirus uploaded by researchers worldwide to a shared database carried the variant.
What makes it different?
Some scientists think this mutation is significantly more transmissible than the original strain of the virus. This variant has four to five times more spikes on its surface. Those spikes enable the virus to latch onto and infect cells. But other scientists still contest the greater transmissibility.
Will vaccines work?
The G variant was the dominant strain when 2020 vaccine trials took place. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines showed a 95 percent efficacy in tests. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which faced both the G variant and the variant first found in South Africa, was 66 percent effective at preventing moderate or worse virus cases.
Related
This coronavirus mutation has taken over the world. Scientists are trying to understand why.
Massive genetic study shows coronavirus mutating and potentially evolving amid rapid U.S. spread.
British officials identify coronavirus mutations, but the significance remains unclear.
How can we protect ourselves from the variants?
The same protective measures that have warded off the virus throughout the pandemic — maintaining social distancing, wearing masks, and washing our hands — are even more critical in the face of more transmissible variants. Those guidelines will simultaneously keep you from becoming ill from one of those variants while making it harder for the virus to mutate in the first place.
“Viruses don’t mutate unless they replicate,” Fauci said in January. Until the research exists, we can’t make assumptions about what new variants will do. But it’s also vital for scientists to learn as much as they can about these variants in case there are specific ways we can slow their spread.
What do the variants mean for vaccines?
“We need to get as many people vaccinated with the current vaccine that we have as we possibly can … and prepare for the potential eventuality that we might have to update this vaccine sometime in the future.” — Fauci in January.
As more significant variants are reported, the obvious (arguably most important) question is whether the vaccines will work on them. Some of the mutations have sparked particular concern because they affect the spikes on the virus, which is what the vaccines target.
In short, pharmaceutical companies are testing new variants against their vaccines and spinning up new trials. Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech can update their vaccines quickly because of their mRNA technology, which can be reprogrammed to target new variants. Pfizer and Moderna have run tests on the variants, and while the vaccines still triggered a response, they appeared to be less effective.
A growing number of scientists anticipate that we will eventually need something similar to the annual flu shot — companies will periodically update their vaccines to match the prevalent coronavirus variants, and we will need boosters to stay protected.
“With flu, we need to adapt the vaccines. We can see that already,” said Ravindra Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge. “The companies realize there is a problem in the longer term, and they will deal with it just as we have done with flu every year.”
Related
New coronavirus variants accelerate the race to make sure vaccines keep up. Joel This report contributed to Achenbach, William Booth, Carolyn Y. Johnson, Sarah Kaplan, Laurie McGinley, and Fenit Nirappil cont.
