JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new COVID strain was detected in the United Kingdom and researchers are taking a closer look at it. The big questions are: how contagious is it and will the vaccine work against it?
“We don’t have any reason to think that this new variant is more lethal or more severe or causes more severe illnesses," said Chad Neilsen, Director of Infection Prevention at UF Health Jacksonville.
“There’s certain changes in the genetic code of that virus that make it a new strain and some of the changes can happen to how contagious it is and some cases how dangerous it is, how much it can make you sick,” said Neilsen.
Neilsen says the new strain isn’t affecting the spike protein which is what the COVID-19 vaccine uses to induce immunity.
“Both Moderna and Pfizer are doing trials with folks who’ve been vaccinated. literally taking blood from them and exposing that blood at a lab to this new variant strain," said Neilsen.
This is to see how well the vaccine works against the new strain. Neilsen says all evidence right now is showing that the vaccine is effective. There are two reasons why this strain is getting exposure.
“More people who have tested positive have had this new variant strain I believe they said over sixty percent of people that are new cases in the UK have this variant," said Neilsen.
“And then number two, they put two and two together and they said well we're also seeing cases explode at a higher rate than we have before and they think that means this strain is more contagious," said Neilsen.
Dr. Vincy Samuel, Director of Employee Health at Baptist Health says there is a chance that this new COVID strain is in the U.S.
“Regardless of that mutation our precautions are still the same…you still have to wear your mask, you do want to get vaccinated when it's your turn to get vaccinated, continue hand hygiene, disinfecting surfaces, and social distancing," said Dr. Samuel.