Researchers studying COVID-19 and its variants in the US have raised concerns about a mutation found in New York City that could reduce the effectiveness of vaccines on the virus.
The New York Times reported that researchers from Caltech and Columbia University have studied the mutation, called B.1.526. A scientist told the paper he was more concerned about the New York variant than the California variant.
The report said the researchers found that E484K and S477N mutations are present in more than a quarter of the samples in the study.
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The E484K mutation is called the “escape mutation” because it could help COVID-19 evade a human immune response, and the S477N mutation creates spike proteins that affect how it attaches to cells.
The paper pointed out that the study has not been peer-reviewed.
Kristian Andersen, a virologist at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, said, “Given the involvement of E484K or S477N, combined with the fact that the New York area has a lot of standing immunity to the spring wave, this is definitely a look.”