"The devil is already here"
Researchers say a coronavirus variant which has established itself as the most dominant strain of the virus in California not only spreads more easily than its predecessors but also evades antibodies caused by Covid-19 vaccines or prior infection.
The variant is thought to have emerged in May of last year and, as reported by the
Los Angeles Times, its arrival partly explains the surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths across the US state.
Scientists based at UC San Francisco have warned the strain should be viewed in the same way as other concerning mutations seen in South Africa, Brazil and the UK.
Dr. Charles Chiu, an infectious diseases researcher and physician at UCSF, headed up a team of geneticists, statisticians, epidemiologists and other scientists in a study of the variant.
"The devil is already here," he is quoted as saying."I wish it were different, but the science is the science."
Chiu adds that understanding precisely how transmissible the California strain is is still not clear, but that evidence that is is more contagious comes from multiple sources.
Although the new variant was not as resistant as the strain that is most dominant in South Africa when it came into contact with antibodies generated by Covid-19 vaccines, the reduction in protection was still described as "significant" by researchers.
The South African strain saw the effectiveness of these antibodies reduced to a sixth of their usual levels, whereas they dropped to half when they encountered the Californian variant.
"I do anticipate over time it is going to have an effect on vaccination," Chiu added.
