New York variant rising in Connecticut
Is it responsible for the recent increase in transmission?
A COVID-19 variant first detected in New York now accounts for more than 30% of Connecticut’s coronavirus cases, researchers say, possibly contributing to the state’s recent increase in transmission.
The variant, known as B.1.526, has been detected nearly as often in Connecticut as the B117 variant and far more than any other notable strains.
Here is what to know about the B.1.526 variant in Connecticut.
What are the variant’s properties?
Unlike the B117 strain, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies as a “variant of concern,” the B.1.526 variant is currently listed as a “variant of interest,” as researchers seek to learn more about its properties.
“There’s just more uncertainty about that variant,” said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner who has advised Lamont during the pandemic. “We sort of understand B117 at this point, the UK variant. Wedon’t really understand B.1.526.”
Experts say the New York variant shares key characteristics with the B.1.351 variant first detected in South Africa. According to the
CDC, it warrants potential concern for two reasons:
Potential reduced effectiveness of monoclonal antibody treatment. Potential reduced effectiveness of vaccination.
Mark Adams, deputy director of The Jackson Laboratory in Farmington, said the New York strain comes in three different variations, all of which have appeared in Connecticut. Given howquickly the variant has spread, not only in Connecticut but also in New York and New Jersey, it appears to be highly contagious, Adams said.
“The strongest evidence would be that it is more transmissible [than other strains], just based on the epidemiology,” Adams said.
How common is the variant in the state?
As of last week, the New York variant accounted for 31.5% of cases recently sequenced in Connecticut, according to data compiled by a Yale School of
Public Health team. This week, Adams said the variant account for about 40% of those sequenced at The Jackson Laboratory.
As cases of the B117 variant have leveled off, the B.1.526 strain has continued to spread.
“There were a lot of us who were saying that we thought, and frankly we hoped that B117 would out-compete B.1.526,” Gottlieb said. “What you’re seeing, at least out the New York data, and you see it out of [Connecticut] as well, is B.1.526 seems to be out-competing B117.”
The spread of the B.1.526 variant, as well as the B117 strain, could explain why COVID-19 cases have risen moderately in the Northeast as they have declined in other parts of the country. Of the 11 states with the most recent COVID19 cases, according to the Washington Post, nine are in the Northeast region.
Given its high transmissibility, Adams the NewYork variant is likely here to stay.
“If it’s approximately the same transmissibility as the UKvariantthenthetwowill continuetocoexist,” hesaid. “If it’s more transmissible, thenit’ll continuetobecome the predominant one.”
Will vaccines work against it?
Despite the CDC’s concern that vaccination might be somewhat less effective against the B.1.526 variant, experts say that has not appeared to be true so far.
“It has some of the mutations or some commonality with the variant from South Africa that may have suggested some decreased responsiveness from monoclonal antibodies and even vaccination, but we’re not really seeing that clinically in the data,” said Dr. David Banach, an epidemiologist at UConn Health. “We’re still seeing that the vaccines are holding up in terms of preventing severe illness and hospitalizations related to this variant.”
Gottlieb agreed, saying the variant hasn’t shown signs for resisting the vaccine but that it warrants future observation.
“We haven’t seen anything in terms of how [the New York variant] is behaving that suggests that it ’s re-infecting people of that it’s piercing vaccine-induced immunity,” Gottlieb said. “But there are more characteristics of that variant that leave us a little uneasy.”
Either way, the message for the public about the importance of vaccination doesn’t change, Adams said. If anything, he said, the high transmissibility of the new variants underscore just how crucial vaccination is.
“The presence of the variants makes the importance of pursuing a high level of vaccination even more apparent,” Adams said. “People who are unvaccinated are still at real risk of becoming infected.”