PHOENIX – Its scientific name is B.1.1.7., But it is also known as the UK variant of the COVID-19 virus.
Sources told ABC15 Friday that the virus has been detected in Arizona, which is now joining more than a dozen other states where the mutation has been detected.
However, specific information about who was infected with them, when and how they arrived in Arizona is not known.
Sources also told ABC15 officials have been in contact with – and warned – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The British variant, a mutation of the virus, has been shown to spread more easily from person to person, officials said.
“We have sequenced more than 5,000 samples,” says Dr. David Engelthaler, an epidemiologist at TGen, also known as The Translational Genomics Research Institute. His team is on the hunt for these variants and said each mutation brings different concerns.
“Not all of these mutations are created equal, some will actually alter the virus and potentially facilitate its spread,” he said.
In fact, preliminary research of the British variant suggests it does just that – spreads faster. Other research, while limited, shows it may be more deadly than the original species.
“We’re also looking for mutations that let the immune system escape – essentially escape the vaccines or cause people to get reinfections,” said Dr. Engelthaler.
Here’s the good news: So far, the COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to work against these important variants that have started circulating around the world.
“This may make the vaccine a little less effective against those virus strains, but it won’t make it ineffective. Vaccines are so potent that reducing their effectiveness will still make them quite useful, ”said Dr. Joseph Petrosino, of the Baylor College of Medicine.
The “Novavax Jab” vaccine, which has yet to be approved, showed in phase 3 clinical trials that the two dose vaccine was approximately 86% effective in protecting against the British variant.
Health experts have said that adapting these vaccines to fight new mutations is quite easy. They also believe that currently available vaccines should be equally effective.
“The idea is that, especially with the RNA vaccines, they can be easily modified and produced so that you can come up with boosters or generate boosters relatively quickly,” said Dr. Petrosino.
At the same time, knowing when these mutations will arrive is key to mitigating their impact.
Arizona is currently lacking funding and resources to detect the virus at a rapid pace. Officials have told ABC15 that 133 samples were sent to the Utah Public Health Laboratory for analysis. They also send 27 samples to the CDC every two weeks.
This type of investigation needs to be expanded significantly, officials have said.
“It hasn’t been there, there are pieces of information, but that’s like missing pieces of information, and we haven’t really had a good eye on this, but I think we’ll make progress,” said Dr. Engelthaler.
“By knowing where different variants are, you can steer public health policy in terms of the drugs that will become available and the changes that may be needed to boost vaccines in the future,” said Dr. Petrosino.
Preliminary evidence has shown that the British variant may be more deadly. The evidence reportedly comes from analyzing trends in the number of people dying with the UK variant versus the old variants.
The BBC reported that the new variant, first identified in England in September, could be as much as 30% more deadly.
Earlier this month, the CDC warned that the British variant could be widespread in the United States by March.