California’s new COVID-19 strain may reduce vaccine efficacy – Marin Independent Journal

A new study from the University of California, San Francisco, shows that California’s more infectious COVID-19 virus strain is currently the predominant variant in the three Bay Area counties, reducing the effectiveness of vaccines and therapeutics. There is a possibility.

With a warning, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has labeled the California strain as a “variant of concern” and has joined the designation shared by the first identified strains in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.

Coronavirus hospitalizations and mortality are on a continuous decline in California, reflecting the distance to control the virus and ongoing health practices from masking to vaccination. Also, the vaccine remains effective against all variants, not just the original coronavirus.

The so-called California variant was found to be about 20% more infectious than the original virus, reports Dr. Charles Chiu, a virologist at the University of California, San Francisco. ..

In previous studies, a variant called B.1.427 / B.1.429 was associated with an increased risk of severe illness and death, long stays in the intensive care unit, and the need for mechanical ventilation.

Within the last six months, its epidemic has exploded. This variant was not seen in cases tested last September, but by the end of January it was tested in UCSF hospitals and clinics, Alameda County community sites, and Santa Clara County collective facilities. It accounted for more than 50% of the genome sequenced from those who were affected. And the acute treatment site.

According to a UCSF study, it is currently likely to be the predominant virus strain in California, accounting for 75% to 90% of cases. This prediction is based on the rate of virus propagation and doubles in numbers every two weeks to one month.

This variant has been reported in several states, but most cases occur in California, Nevada, and Arizona, according to outbreak.info, a website that tracks epidemiological data around the world.

Vaccine and treatment concerns

There are also concerns about the results of research in the new laboratory. Blood levels of protective antibodies in 6 of 11 people vaccinated with Pfizer and Modana were reduced by only half.

Antibodies in the blood of 7 of 8 patients treated with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma were reduced by a factor of 6.7.

“The increased prevalence of more contagious mutants in California associated with reduced antibody neutralization requires further investigation,” Chiu wrote.

The implications of the findings on how well vaccines and treatments protect real people from mutants are unknown.

Antibody levels are markers of protection. But they are only part of the immune response. The vaccine also induces T cells.

The vaccine induces very high levels of antibodies, which can reduce its effectiveness slightly. Immunity is turned on or off, not binary. Instead, it’s on the spectrum.

However, new discoveries raise concerns about the potentially high risk of reinfection among vaccinated people. The risk of reinfection is likely to be highest for people who produce low levels of antibodies after vaccination.

According to Science, a decrease in antibodies can also have more subtle effects, such as a slightly faster decrease in immunity.

The US Department of Health and Human Services recently stopped shipping Eli Lilly and Company drugs to California, Nevada, and Arizona. This is because it may be less effective against this strain.

Authorities said Eli Lilly’s other Covid-19 therapy, a combination of gamlanivimab and another drug, etesebimab, could still be ordered. Early results show that drug combinations can significantly reduce the risk of hospitalization and death. Another antibody treatment given by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals was also unaffected by HHS effects.

Like all viruses, the COVID-19 pathogen causes small changes in the genome during replication. Understanding this evolution, especially which mutations can alter its behavior, is essential for estimating the threat of new strains.

The genetic makeup of the virus, which is stored in single-strand RNA, determines whether the virus can suddenly become resistant to the drug, or whether the vaccine is protective or wasteful.