State reports first variant death, remains confident in vaccine

While Connecticut has reported its first death associated with the highly contagious UK variant of the coronavirus, officials remain confident the vaccine will offer ample protection.

A state Department of Public Health official said Tuesday the person was between the ages of 30 and 40, but could not disclose any other information, including

where the person lived or if they had traveled before becoming ill. The official said the person was among 81 confirmed Connecticut cases associated with what is known as the B.1.1.7 variant of the virus.

The variant, viewed earlier this year as a threat that could dramatically drive up COVID-19 infections, was found in 15 new Connecticut cases between Jan. 29 and Feb. 17, state officials said. The cases involved people age 15 to 59.

It was discovered in people living in towns in western, central and southern Connecticut, according to the Department of Public Health .

On Tuesday, the Connecticut daily positivity rate jumped to 3.56 percent — the highest it’s been since Feb. 23 when it was 3.92 percent. Hospitalizations also increased on Tuesday with 13

more patients, bumping the statewide total to 401. There were also 14 more COVID-related deaths, bringing the total to 7,739 fatalities.

As reports of the UK variant picked up earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned it could become the predominate strain across the country.

CDC reported Sunday there were more than 3,000 cases involving the UK variant across 49 states, the majority of them in Florida, California and Michigan.

Speaking to the CDC’s prediction, Gov. Ned Lamont’s Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe said the state was on that path to seeing this variant as the predominate strain.

“We are meeting regularly with the team at the Yale School of Public Health. They are doing a lot of sequencing and modeling around that. They indicated we are on that path in Connecticut, as we are around most of the country,”

Geballe said.

However, Lamont on Monday said the increase does not represent an exponential growth in new infections as once anticipated when the variant first arrived in the United States.

“Right now, I think the vaccine is staying ahead of the variant and that’s slowing its increase,” Lamont said. “And, by the way, the vaccine works against the variant.”

The variant, research shows, is up to 90 percent more contagious than the common strain of COVID-19 that is circulating across the country.

Surveillance of the variant is limited because identifying it requires genetic sequencing of collected specimens — a timeconsuming process. The first case of the UK variant in Connecticut was identified in early January.

Dr. Richard Martinello, medical director for infection prevention at Yale New Haven Health, said there are several concerns about

the UK variant. In addition to spreading more readily than the common strains, the variant also appears to cause more severe illness for those who contract it, he said.

However, Martinello said, the vaccines “seems to work about as well” with the UK variant.

Vaccine makers Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have expressed confidence that inoculations provide protection against the variants circulating across the country.

Johnson & Johnson, which received FDA approval for its vaccine on Feb. 27, said data showed its single-dose inoculation had success against strains, including the UK variant.

“We believe the Johnson & Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine is a critical tool for fighting this global pandemic, particularly as it shows protection across countries with different variants,” Dr. Paul Stoffels, the company’s chief science officer, said in a statement when the vaccine was approved.

State officials also said Monday that a second case of the South African variant of the virus has been identified.

DPH determined the individual, who is between the age of 15 and 25 and was tested in early February, had recently traveled to Massachusetts. The variant is also believed to be more infectious than the common strain of COVID-19.

Cases attributed to the South African variant, known as B.1.351, remain low nationwide. According to the CDC, 81 cases have been confirmed across the country as of this week.

Martinello noted the vaccine might not work as well against the South African variant, but said it is “still highly effective in preventing severe illness.”

“The best thing that all can do is to get vaccinated as soon as vaccine becomes available to them,” Martinello said.