New Covid-19 variant, B.1.526, spotted in New York City

The variant has also caused concerns among researchers regarding how it might affect the vaccination process as some variants, including the B.1.526, could be resistant to vaccines.

A new variant of the coronavirus, now being known as B.1.526, is spreading across New York City causing concerns among healthcare professionals in the city. The variant shares many similarities with the variants discovered in South Africa and is more transmissible and hard to control, according to a report by news agency Reuters.

National Guard soldiers help to sign up people for their vaccination appointment at the York College coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination site on February 24, 2021 in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens borough in New York City. (AFP)

Researchers from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons on Wednesday said that the variant B.1.526 was first identified in Covid-19 samples collected in New York in November. Up until last week, the B.1.526 variant was seen in 12% of cases.

The variant has also caused concerns among researchers regarding how it might affect the vaccination process as some variants, including the B.1.526, could be resistant to vaccines. The study conducted by Columbia University researchers shows that the variant spreading in New York shares characteristics with B.1.351, the variant first identified in South Africa, and P.1., which was first identified in Brazil.

Several studies conducted on these two variants show that due to a change in one area of the virus’ spike protein, called E484K, which is present in all the three variants. The E484K virus mutation helps the virus dodge the vaccines and contributes to weaken the body’s immune response to the virus.

The virus has also shown another mutation called the S477N, which affects how tightly the virus binds to human cells, according to a report by The New York Times. “There was a pattern that was recurring, and a group of isolates concentrated in the New York region that I hadn’t seen,” computational biologist Anthony West told the New York Times.

A team of researchers led by West on Tuesday released a study where they used the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) to detect the rise of the B.1.526 variant among people infected with Covid-19 in New York.

Several studies claim that the Covid-19 vaccines provide immunity from severe illness and protect against mutations of Sars-Cov-2. The makers of vaccines are also working on developing booster shots to combat the mutations of coronavirus.