What to know
- The NYT reported, citing partially unpublished research from Columbia University, that a new variant appeared to be appearing in the city with a mutation that could weaken the effectiveness of vaccines.
- Neither city officials nor the state have previously spoken publicly about the research; Dr. Jay Varma, the mayor’s chief health adviser, encouraged skepticism: “Not all options are of public health interest.”
- The newspaper did not immediately respond to criticism of the story; Dr. Columbia quoted him as saying, “It’s weird that we’re being criticized for doing good science to alert the city to what’s going on.”
A New York Times report on a possible new COVID variant spreading in New York City is making headlines, but scientists and City Hall have been quick to criticize what they say is the potentially premature launch of unfinished research.
The Times reported on Wednesday, citing partially unpublished research from Columbia University, that a new variant appeared to appear in the city with a mutation that could weaken the effectiveness of vaccines.
Neither health officials in the city nor the state have previously spoken publicly about the new development and immediately raised concerns about the prospect of another wave of disease.
But prominent personalities quickly criticized Columbia and the Times for reporting what they suggested was an unfinished work.
“It wasn’t even a ‘pre-print’ – I was asked to comment on the draft manuscript of someone who was still following the changes and didn’t include the numbers. Based on this, the NYT wrote a story. This is an absolute mess, “Nathan Grubaugh, a professor at the Yale School of Public Health, wrote on Twitter.
With new, more contagious variants of the circulating coronavirus, health experts are adapting their recommendations for face masks. Dr. John Torres, NBC News medical correspondent, joined LX News to explain why you should make sure the face mask is properly fitted and doubled.
The mayor’s office also participated in the early release of the data, with spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio taking over both the university and the newspaper in charge.
“It’s great that Columbia and other academics are looking for COVID options. But please, please, for the love of all that is holy, share the data with public health officials before making public pre-writings that still have follow-up changes with the NY Times. everything, “Bill Neidhardt wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning.
One of De Blasio’s most important scientific advisers also criticized the reporting of others as “pathogen porn,” which did not help public health efforts.
“Advocacy to academics: Please review high-impact studies with government health departments before marketing them in the media. We are allowed to decipher the science from the journalist’s summary while sending elected, public, media calls on how this policy is changing. helping public health, “said Dr. Jay Varma posted on Twitter early thursday.
In an interview with LX News, Dr. Anthony Fauci addressed the multiplier coronavirus mutations, including a British variant that is thought to be more deadly and more contagious. Watch the full interview with Dr. Fauci on NBCLX on Tuesday at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET.
He explained this later in the mayor’s daily briefing on the mayor’s coronavirus, encouraging New Yorkers to be “less skeptical” of what they read.
“Not all options are of interest to public health. Some variants are just that – they are variants, they are just a little different. Some variants are variants of interest – they have changes in their structure that could change the “ownership” virus, said Varma, a senior public health adviser at the mayor’s office. “And some variants are variants of what we call public health concerns – they have these mutations and we have enough data to show that they change if the virus is more infectious, if it is more lethal, if it can change immunity.”
Regarding the Columbia report, Varma said: “We just have to consider a variant of interest – something interesting that we have to follow and follow. But it doesn’t change anything about our public health concern. more data and studies to understand this. “
Dr. Dave Chokshi, the city’s health commissioner who himself battled COVID-19 earlier this month, said there was no evidence at this time to suggest that the variant identified in the Columbia report contributed to the trajectory of the cases, which stressed that it continues to decline. from their last holiday peak.
Daily percentage of positive tests in the New York region
The Andrew Cuomo government divides the state into 10 regions for testing purposes and monitors positivity rates to identify potential hot spots. Here are the latest tracking data by region and for the five neighborhoods. For the latest county-level results at the state level, click here
“We also have no evidence that the variant is concentrated in any part of the city,” Chokshi said. “The science in this field is only less established compared to other variants such as the British version, which we follow closely. Also, as we get information from these new studies, they remain quite exploratory in terms of real-world effects – – and this is the most important thing from a public health perspective. ”
With the new COVID-19 variants in the UK, South Africa and Brazil now spreading, doctors are rushing to vaccinate as many Americans as possible before more mutations appear. Dr. Natasha Bhuyan, regional director of One Medical, joined LX News to talk about why vaccines are so important right now and how they encourage their patients to overcome their skepticism about it.
A scientist, Eric Topol, took to Twitter to ask why the report on a possible “scariant” had been published without review in the biomedical community. (The story, in addition to Columbia’s research, also cited publicly available data, but also before publication, from Caltech.)
The author of the Times story answered Topol with her reasoning.
“To be fair, I convinced them to let me write about it so that readers could see both lines of evidence at once. And all those quoted saw the manuscript and thought it seemed legitimate. It should be soon! (It was sent) “, wrote on Twitter Apoorva Mandavilli on Wednesday night in response to Topol.
The newspaper was not immediately available to comment on criticism of the story.
Columbia University doctor Dr. David Ho, who heads the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, told News 4: “It’s weird that we’re being criticized for doing good science to alert the city to what’s going on. notified a few weeks ago. The NY Times started with another print from Caltech that appeared a few days ago. “
Dr Anthony Fauci said on Thursday that new data showed that existing COVID-19 vaccines were still effective against the new variants. “Right now from the reports we have today, it seems that the vaccines will continue to be effective against them with the big warning that you want to pay special attention to,” said Fauci.
New York officials, while challenging the Times report on any emerging local options, have repeatedly expressed concern about other more transmissible coronavirus strains, which have become more widespread in the United States.
Varma encouraged the exchange of information to continue, even following criticism; it is only a matter of qualifying the data, if it is published to the public.
“We certainly want all our academic partners to work closely with us, to share their data, to share their findings, because this is a challenging fight, and public health is a team activity,” he said.
Variant B.1.1.7, which first appeared in the United Kingdom last year, has spread to almost every state in the United States, 45 according to the latest CDC report. To date, New York State has confirmed at least 154 cases of this strain, which city officials say could be more lethal, according to preliminary evidence from the UK, than previously thought, as well as more contagious. New Jersey has confirmed 50 such cases.
The South African variant has different mutations from those present in the UK strain, causing concern about the effectiveness of current vaccines against it. Moderna will soon begin clinical trials of a COVID booster vaccine for the South African variant, citing a weaker immune response to its two-dose regimen against this strain. This variant is still relatively rare in the USA
New York has so far confirmed two cases, both in Nassau County, while the CDC reports 46 cases detected in 14 states. By comparison, the British strain was found in almost 2,000 US samples.
Dr. Anthony Fauci highlighted preliminary studies indicating that coronavirus vaccines will have a positive impact in slowing the spread of COVID-19. The vaccine is important not only for the health of the individual to protect him against infections and diseases … but it also has very important public health implications for interfering with and reducing the dynamics of the outbreak. ”
The CDC updates its version numbers only three times a week, so the latest federal data may not reflect the latest local data. New York City and the state have stepped up their testing and investigation of potential new strains in recent weeks. The CDC is expected to update its numbers later Thursday, however.
In an interview with Sirius XM Radio on Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases, acknowledged that federal genetic sequencing is not yet at the “we want to be yet” level in terms of identification and tracing. COVID variants.
“But the CDC is really growing a lot, a lot more than we’ve had before, to get a much higher percentage of isolates,” Fauci said. “We’re starting to sequence them, to put them in a common database, so that we can really determine what the pattern of the prevalence or not of a certain variant is. They’ve accelerated considerably in the last few weeks.”
In general, vaccines are expected to work on the variants that have emerged and on new strains that will appear over time. City officials said engaging in key mitigation efforts that primarily limited the spread – wearing a mask, social distancing, washing hands and staying home when sick – also remain the most effective means of protection against more transmissible strains. .
Not sure how the process works? Or when you might be able to get an appointment? Check out our handy tri-state vaccine site finder here and frequently asked questions here
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“The most important message New Yorkers need to hear is that we need you to keep doing all the things we’ve done. We realize this is painful and difficult, but persistence is really important. “said Varma. “Follow the instructions, especially the potential for wearing two masks if you don’t have a well-fitting mask. When you come, get vaccinated.”