New York identifies the new variant of COVID-19 virus

Lahore, 25th February: A new variant of the novel coronavirus has been identified in the United States.

Baaghi TV: Researchers reported on Wednesday that a new coronavirus variant is on the rise in New York City.

The new variant shares some similarities with a more transmissible and intractable variant discovered in South Africa that is now on the rise in New York.

According to reports from the researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the new variant, known as B.1.526, was first identified in samples collected in New York in November, and by mid-February represented about 12% of cases.

The Columbia researchers said an analysis of publicly available databases did not show a high prevalence of coronavirus variants recently identified in South Africa and Brazil in case samples from New York City and surrounding areas.

Dr Anne-Catrin Uhlemann, assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, said in a statement.“Instead, we found high numbers of this home-grown lineage.”

The Columbia study found that B.1.526 shares some distressing characteristics with B.1.351, the variant first identified in South Africa, and P.1., which was first identified in Brazil.

Studies have suggested that those new variants are more resistant to some existing vaccines than earlier versions of the coronavirus.

Studies have shown that recently launched coronavirus vaccines are still likely to counteract the virus and protect against severe illness, even for infections with new variants.

As per reports, vaccine makers are also working to develop booster shots to fight mutated versions of the virus.

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