What to know
- Variants of Interest and Variants of Care account for more than 70 percent of all new NYC cases, up from about 10 percent in January
- The UK and Brazil variants are considered to be of concern because the former has been proven to have more serious consequences, while the latter may be more resistant to vaccines.
- New York City health officials say they are investigating whether the Washington Heights variant causes a higher risk of reinfection from other variants or is more resistant to vaccines
More contagious variants keep the five boroughs’ daily COVID cases on a “high plateau,” even as the roll-out of vaccinations accelerates, and city officials are investigating whether one that first showed up in Washington Heights last year is more likely to develop. re-infection in people who previously had the virus, health officials say.
They are also still investigating whether it is more likely than other variants to infect people who are fully vaccinated and whether that Washington Heights variant, known as B.1.526, is contributing to more serious consequences in terms of deaths, hospitalization, and illness. , says a new analysis of the health department published Monday.
The Washington Heights variety, along with the British (B.1.1.7), Brazilian (P.1), and South African (B.1.351) strains have all been proven to be more transmissible than previous COVID strains, and therefore they are also known as ‘troubling variants’ or ‘interesting variants’.
The B.1.1.7 strain is described as a “variant of concern” because evidence shows that it causes more serious infections than previous strains. It can also be more deadly. The P.1 variant is also considered a variant of concern because the evidence shows that antibodies from a previous infection or from vaccination may be less effective against it.
New real-time information allows scientists at Hackensack Medical Center to develop a new rapid test that detects COVID-19 variants. Brian Thompson of NBC New York reports.
While research is underway to assess B.1.526’s potential threat level, health officials say it accounts for about 34 percent of all positive samples surveyed since January. The prevalence of all variants has increased dramatically since January.
At the time, troubling variants and variants of interest accounted for about 10 percent of all cases studied. In mid-March, they represented more than 70 percent of cases genetically sequenced in labs. The Brazilian variant accounts for only about 2 percent of samples examined since January, but city officials say its presence is on the rise.
Handout The city recently updated its variant data.
Variants B.1.526 and B.1.1.7 have been found in all five boroughs, although the former is slightly more common in the Bronx and parts of Queens. The British species is slightly more common in southern Brooklyn, eastern Queens, and Staten Island.
So far, the city has found no evidence that either of these two strains reduces the effectiveness of vaccines, health officials said. But further research is needed.
Handout This map shows detection of the Washington Heights variant.
Handout This map shows the prevalence of the UK variant.
“To date, cases of reinfection and cases in fully vaccinated humans are rare. It is too early to know if any of these variants have a higher risk of reinfection or vaccine breakthrough compared to other variants previously in circulation. said Dr. Chokshi said. “The increase in the number of cases that are variants indicates that they may be more transmissible, so New Yorkers should continue to vaccinate when they qualify and adhere to the Core Four.”
While new daily cases, hospitalizations, and confirmed virus deaths all decline during the last two-week period studied, new cases decline more slowly (20 percent) than hospitalizations (41 percent) and deaths (30.5 percent), data shows.
The decline in more severe outcomes may be associated with higher vaccination coverage among the most vulnerable populations, city officials have said. Similar trends are occurring across the country, where death rates and hospital admissions among the elderly are declining, but the proportion of younger people in COVID emergency care is increasing.
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New cases and emergency room visits are occurring in younger adults, “most of whom have not yet been vaccinated,” said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
Walensky says the cause of the resurgence is still under investigation, but she is one of the experts who have raised concerns. COVID-19 variants contribute to higher spread rates at a critically vulnerable time in the rollout of national vaccines.
The British species is now the predominant species in the US According to the latest CDC report, nearly 21,000 positive US samples contained the British variety, known as B.1.1.7, in all 52 US jurisdictions. That variant accounted for 27 percent of all positive samples tested in the last two-week period, against 12 percent in the previous two-week period.
The South African and Brazilian variants, B.1.351 and P.1., Are still less common, but the prevalence of both continues to rise nationally. The South African variant has been found in at least 453 US samples in 36 states, while the P.1. strain has been found in nearly 500 samples in 31 states, the CDC says. Genomic sequencing to detect variants is an exhaustive process. The CDC had assessed only a small fraction of the cases up to recent months; then the presence of more transmissible tribes boomed.
New York and New Jersey, which a week ago were among the five states accounting for 44 percent of all new daily cases nationally, have also stepped up their genomic sequencing efforts, according to data from Johns Hopkins. The city has collected more than 5 percent of the copies of confirmed cases in recent weeks, which is high.
New Jersey health officials say they hope to determine a similar percentage this week; previously scientists were sequencing only 2 percent of the samples.
As more Americans are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, the number of breakthrough infections is also expected to increase. Here’s what you need to know about this medical phenomenon.
New Jersey has reported a total of nearly 960 variant cases to date. The British variety accounts for 98 percent of them. Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said Monday that B.1.1.7 strain appears to be associated with more serious outcomes in the state, based on hospital admissions and death rates. Hospital admissions are also on the rise among people in the 18-24 age group, which is in line with Walensky’s warnings nationally.
In New York City, the B.1.1.7 variant has been identified in 1,586 samples during the last seven-day period studied, an increase of 169 percent from data reported for a seven-day period two weeks earlier. Genomic sequencing of a subset of virus samples taken from city dwellers during the week of March 22 found that an estimated 29.5 percent were B.1.1.7, the latest city data shows.
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
More than 34 percent of the samples studied during the same period were the B.1.526 variant, which is believed to have originated in Washington Heights before spreading to other boroughs and states. That variant in New York was present in 6 percent of all U.S. cases tested in the two-week period ending March 13, against 4 percent in the previous two-week reporting period, according to the CDC.
Overall, the three vaccines that are federally approved for emergency use are said to be very effective in reducing serious consequences and deaths associated with COVID-19; they are also believed to be effective in preventing new infections. Here’s everything you need to know about the Big 3, including how effective each is and how they compare.
The hope – and the plan – is that increased vaccinations will eventually outpace the spread of variants and that people will stick to the precautions until it does. To date, New York City has had about 22.4 percent of the population fully vaccinated, while 35.4 percent have had at least one injection. Statewide, 24.9 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated, while 37.9 percent has had at least one injection.
In New Jersey, about a quarter of the population is fully vaccinated. The Garden State will be eligible on Mondays for all residents 16 and older. New York did the same thing early last week, while Connecticut made that universal push the week before.
President Joe Biden has set an April 19 deadline for all states to make vaccinations universally available to adults. Nationally, about 46.5 percent of American adults 18 and older have received at least one dose, while 28.6 percent are now fully vaccinated.
Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have asked the FDA to extend emergency use of their COVID-19 vaccine to adolescents 12 to 15 years old.
The US reported 4.6 million vaccine doses administered on Saturday, a new one-day record as the country sees an average of nearly 69,000 new COVID cases per day, a level in line with the peak in summer 2020, according to data from Johns. Hopkins. That figure is 7 percent higher than about a week ago.
The seven-day average of new daily deaths is around 962, which is also on par with summer 2020 levels, the university says.
It’s still unclear how long protection lasts for those vaccinated, the CDC says, although new research suggests Moderna’s vaccine protection lasts at least six months. It takes about two weeks after the last shot to build up immunity.
Recent research suggests that even one shot of Moderna or Pfizer is up to 80 percent effective in preventing infection, but experts say Americans should still get both doses. A single dose of one of those vaccines in a place where more contagious variants are spreading is less effective at preventing infection, city health officials say.