• Maryland becomes 2nd state to report case of South African virus variant,

The new variant of the coronavirus first found in South Africa has emerged in a Maryland resident, Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said Saturday, confirming the arrival of a highly transmissible mutation as the region struggles to meet demand for the vaccine.

The case of the new variant, which was identified by state health officials in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, involves an adult in the Baltimore area who has not traveled outside of the country, “making community transmission likely,” the governor’s statement read. Officials are working to quickly identify potential contacts and ensure they are quarantined and tested, Mr. Hogan said.

“State health officials are closely monitoring the B.1.351 variant of SARSCoV-2 in the state,” Mr. Hogan said. “We strongly encourage Marylanders to practice extra caution to limit the additional risk of transmission associated with this variant. Please continue to practice standard public health and safety measures, including mask wearing, regular hand washing, and physical distancing.”

The B.1.351 variant, originally discovered in South Africa and later in two dozen countries, was first identified in the United States on Thursday, in two cases in South Carolina. Maryland is the second state to report a confirmed case of the variant.

The mutation appears to spread more easily than other variants, but there is no evidence that it is more lethal or causes more severe illness.

Scott Gottlieb, former director of the Food and Drug Administration, has suggested this variant might be more resistant to antibody therapies. While additional research is required, vaccines will likely still be effective against the mutation, top infectious-diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said in January. Current diagnostic coronavirus tests are expected to be able to detect the B.1.351 variant, Mr. Hogan’s statement said.

This is the second mutation of the novel coronavirus to be identified in Maryland. The Maryland Department of Health announced that it identified the mutation first found in the United Kingdom on Jan. 12. Health officials in the state have since identified seven cases of that variant, known as B.1.1.7.

More than 430 cases of the three variants, including the one initially found in Brazil, have been identified in 31 states, according to federal data, an alarming spread Dr. Fauci described as a “wake-up call.”

“It is an incentive to do what we’ve been saying all along: to vaccinate as many people as we can, as quickly as we possibly can,” Dr. Fauci said Friday.

The arrival of the South Africa variant comes as Maryland has struggled to robustly roll out the vaccine, and daily new coronavirus cases remain high even as they continue to decline from a mid-January peak.

The state health department has confirmed 352,726 cases of the novel coronavirus in Maryland as of Saturday and a statewide positivity rate of 5.79%.

Maryland has administered more than 512,000 initial doses of the vaccine, but its vaccination rate ranks in the bottom quartile of all states and territories tracked by the CDC. The CDC data show Maryland has only administered about half of its distributed vaccine doses.

Beginning Feb. 1, severely immunocompromised people, such as those receiving chemotherapy, will be eligible for the vaccine. Maryland is now providing vaccines for seniors 65 and older, as well as teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers, daycare providers and other essential workers.