2 NEW COVID SUPERSTRAINS FROM THE UK AND SOUTH AFRICA
As of January 8, 2021, the Pfizer vaccine appears to protect both new super-strains found in the U.K. and South Africa. There is still no known news about the effectivness of the Moderna vaccine on the 2 new strains. Scientists have warned however that these findings are still developing as they continue to work on testing different mutations of the super strains.
As of late 2020, 2 new super-strains of the coronavirus have been identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa. The U.K. super-strain was first seen to have emerged in September, and the South African super strain was discovered right before Christmas.
On January 6th, 54 cases of the U.K. super-strain were detected in 6 U.S states. Those states include Colorado, California, Georgia, New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania. The South African super-strain has not yet been detected in the U.S.
Both new strains of the coronavirus have been shown to spread faster and are highly infectious (the U.K. strain is said to be 70% more transmissable), but they are not thought to be any deadlier than the current known strains of coronavirus. “Most of the time, these changes don’t make them more harmful. But sometimes a mutation makes for a competitive advantage, something that allows that version to outperform the viruses around it.”
Sources:
https://www.the-sun.com/news/2074068/south-african-covid-variant-vaccines/
https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20210107/new-covid-super-strains-could-disrupt-life-again