New COVID-19 variant found locally, state says
A new variant of COVID-19 made its way to Humboldt County, the state Department of Public Health announced late Sunday.
The variant, according to the CDPH, was first spotted in May 2020 in California, but since November, the once-rare variant is being increasingly seen as cases of COVID-19 surge across the state and country.
It's unclear the extent to which the variant is found in Humboldt County, but in other parts of the state, it is found in about one-quarter of cases.
In November, University of California San Francisco researchers sequenced coronavirus genomes collected from around the state and found that the variant in just 3.8% of their samples.
Samples collected from late December to early January showed that the number jumped to 25.2%.
“The potential transmissibility of this particular variant, however, given the fact that now it’s roughly a quarter of the cases that we’re seeing in California and maybe even more to the present, it is concerning that it may potentially be more infectious,” said Charles Chiu, a virologist who leads the research team at UCSF, on Sunday night during a CDPH Zoom call.
Chiu, who was citing data collected from across the state — although not from Humboldt County — also noted that the variant might affect the efficacy of vaccines, although he said more research needs to be done to look at that.
“The data so far is very preliminary, but it basically does raise the concern that there may be some impact on the vaccine and I think that’s the most uncomfortable thing,” Chiu said. “Certainly, much more work needs to be done in the laboratory to fully characterize this variant and really determine whether it affects transmissibility, and whether or not there’s any impact on vaccine efficacy.”
The Santa Clara County Public Health Department, which also took part in Sunday night’s news conference, said vaccines currently being administered likey protect against the new variant.
“We expect the vaccines will also provide protection against the 452 variant, and urge everyone to be vaccinated as soon as they become eligible,” the department said in an email to the Times-Standard on Monday.
The Humboldt County Joint Information Center that responds to questions about the COVID-19 pandemic was closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Responding to an email from the Times-Standard, a spokesperson did not answer questions about the L452 variant Monday but suggested more information would be available Monday. It was not received before the publishing deadline.
Dr. Erica Pan, the state epidemiologist for CDPH urged Californians to remain vigilant in preventing the spread of COVID-19 as the new variant is studied.
“It’s too soon to know if this variant will spread more rapidly than others, but it certainly reinforces the need for all Californians to wear masks and reduce mixing with people outside their immediate households to help slow the spread of the virus,” she said in a news release Sunday night. “We also urge anyone who has been exposed to the virus to isolate from others to protect themselves and their loved ones.”