What to know
- The NYT reported, in part citing unpublished research from Columbia University, that a new variant appeared to be emerging in the city with a mutation that could weaken the effectiveness of vaccines.
- Neither city nor state officials had publicly spoken of the investigation before; Dr. Jay Varma, the mayor’s senior health adviser, encouraged skepticism: ‘Not all variants are of danger to public health’
- The newspaper did not immediately respond to criticism of the story; the Columbia physician quoted in it said, ‘It’s strange that we’re being criticized for doing good science to warn the city what’s going on’
A New York Times report on a possible new COVID variant spreading in New York City is causing a stir, but scientists and City Hall were quick to criticize what they said was the possible premature release of unfinished research.
The Times reported Wednesday, citing in part to unpublished research from Columbia University, that a new variant appeared to be emerging in the city with a mutation that could weaken the effectiveness of vaccines.
Neither city nor state health officials had publicly spoken about this new development before, and it immediately expressed concern at the prospect of another wave of illness.
But prominent figures were quick to criticize both Columbia and the Times for reporting it was unfinished work.
“This wasn’t even a ‘preprint’ – I was asked to comment on someone’s draft manuscript that still tracked changes and didn’t include the numbers. Based on this, the NYT wrote a story. This is an absolute mess,” wrote Nathan Grubaugh, a professor at the Yale School of Public Health, on Twitter.
With new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus circulating, health experts are adjusting their recommendations for face masks. Dr. John Torres, NBC News’ medical correspondent, joined LX News to explain why you need to make sure your face mask fits properly and fits double.
City hall also took into account the early release of data, with mayor Bill de Blasio’s spokesman addressing both the university and the newspaper.
It’s great that Columbia and other academics are looking at COVID variants. But please, for the love of all things sacred, share the data with public health officials before publishing pre-writes that still have track changes with the NY Times. Bill Neidhardt tweeted Thursday morning.
One of De Blasio’s top scientific advisers also criticized the reporting, and others like it, as “pathogenic porn” that was not conducive to public health efforts.
“Plea to academics: please review high impact studies with government health departments before putting it on the media. We need to decipher the science from the journalists’ abstract as we answer phone calls from elected representatives, the public and the media how this is done. policy changes helping public health, “Dr. Jay Varma tweeted early Thursday.
In an interview with LX News, Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed the multiplicative mutations of the coronavirus, including a British variant that is thought to be both more deadly and more contagious. Watch the full interview with Dr. Fauci on NBCLX next Tuesday at 8 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET.
He later clarified this point in the Mayor’s daily briefing on the coronavirus and encouraged New Yorkers to be “a little skeptical” about what they read.
“Not all variants are important for public health. Some variants are just that – they’re variants, they’re just a little bit different. Some variants are variants that matter – they have changes in their structure that can alter the virus.” property, ”said Varma, senior public health adviser at the mayor’s office. whether it is more deadly, whether it can alter immunity. “
As for the Columbia report, Varma said, “We just need to consider this as a variant of interest – something that’s interesting that we need to monitor and monitor. But it doesn’t change our public health concerns. More data and research around that. to understand. “
Dr. Dave Chokshi, the city health commissioner who himself fought COVID-19 earlier this month, said there is currently no evidence to suggest that the variant identified in the Columbia report contributed to the trajectory of cases, which he emphasized continue to decline. from their last holiday peak.
Daily percentage of positive tests by New York area
Gov. Andrew Cuomo divides the state into 10 regions for testing purposes and tracks positivity rates to identify potential hot spots. Here is the latest tracking data by region and for the five boroughs. Click here for the latest results at provincial level
“We also don’t have any evidence that the variant is concentrated in any part of the city,” Chokshi said. “The science around this is just less established compared to other variants, such as the UK variant, which we are also closely monitoring. As we get the information from these new studies, they remain quite exploratory regarding the real world effects – – and that’s the most important from a public health point of view. ”
With new COVID-19 variants from the UK, South Africa and Brazil now spreading, doctors are rushing to vaccinate as many Americans as possible before more mutations occur. Dr. Natasha Bhuyan, a regional director of One Medical, joined LX News to talk about why vaccines are so important right now and how she is encouraging her patients to overcome their skepticism about them.
A scientist named Eric Topol wondered on Twitter why the report on a possible “scariant” had been published in the biomedical community without evaluation. (The story, in addition to the Columbia study, also cited publicly available but pre-release data from Caltech.)
The author of the Times story responded to Topol with her reasoning.
“To be fair, I convinced them I could write about it so the readers could see both lines of evidence at once. And everyone I quoted saw the manuscript and thought it looked legitimate. It should be out soon! It has been submitted) ”, tweeted Apoorva Mandavilli Wednesday evening in response to Topol.
The newspaper was not immediately available to comment on criticism of the story.
The Columbia University physician quoted in it, Dr. David Ho, who leads the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, told News 4, “It’s strange that we’re getting criticized for doing good science to warn the city of what’s going on. Notified a few weeks ago The NY Times started with another preprint from Caltech that appeared days ago. “
Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Thursday that new data indicates that the existing COVID-19 vaccines are still effective against new variants. “At this point from the reports we have literally as of today, it looks like the vaccines will still be effective against them, with the big caveat that you want to pay close attention,” Fauci said.
New York City officials have objected to the Times report on a locally emerging variant, but have repeatedly raised concerns about other more transmissible strains of coronavirus that are more common in the US.
Varma encouraged the sharing of information to continue even after criticism; it is simply a matter of qualifying the data should it be made public.
“We absolutely want all of our academic partners to work closely with us, share their data and share their findings, because this is a challenging battle and public health is a team activity,” he said.
The B.1.1.7 variant, which first surfaced in the UK last year, has spread to nearly every state in America, 45 according to the latest CDC report. To date, New York State has confirmed at least 154 cases of that species, which city officials say, according to preliminary British evidence, could be more deadly than previously believed, as well as more contagious. New Jersey has confirmed 50 such cases.
The South African variant has several mutations on top of those present in the British strain, raising concerns about the efficacy of current vaccines against it. Moderna will soon begin clinical trials of a COVID booster injection for the South African variant, citing a weaker immune response due to the two doses against this particular strain. This variant is still relatively rare in the US.
New York has confirmed two cases so far, both in Nassau County, while the CDC reports 46 detected cases in 14 states. In comparison, the British species has been found in nearly 2,000 American samples.
Dr. Anthony Fauci highlighted preliminary studies indicating that coronavirus vaccines will positively affect slowing the spread of COVID-19. “Vaccine is not only important for the health of the individual to protect them from infection and disease … but it also has very important implications from a public health standpoint for disrupting and reducing the dynamics of the outbreak.”
The CDC only updates its variant numbers three times a week, so the latest federal data may not match the latest local data. The city and state of New York have been ramping up their testing and research for possible new species in recent weeks. The CDC is expected to update its numbers later Thursday.
In an interview with Sirius XM Radio Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, acknowledged that federal genetic sequencing is not yet at the level “we want to be” in identifying and tracking COVID. variants.
“But the CDC is really ramping up a lot, much more than before, to get a much larger percentage of the isolates,” Fauci said. “We’re starting to sequence them, putting them in a common database so that we can really determine what the prevalence pattern of a particular variant is. They’ve really accelerated significantly in recent weeks.”
In general, vaccines are expected to work on the variants that have emerged and new strains that will emerge over time. City officials said carrying out key efforts to reduce the spread – wearing masks, socializing, washing hands and staying home when sick – also remain the most effective way to protect against more communicable tensions.
Not sure how the process works? Or when you might be able to make an appointment? Check out our handy tri-state vaccine site finder and FAQs here
Vaccine Providers in New York City and New Jersey
Click on each provider to learn more about how to schedule appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine.
“The single most important message New Yorkers need to hear is that we need you to keep doing all the things we’ve done. We realize this is painful and difficult, but persistence is really important,” said Varma. “Follow the guidelines for this, especially the guidelines on possibly wearing two masks if you don’t have a properly fitting mask. Get vaccinated when it’s your turn.”