Two coronavirus strains that were first detected in California have become “variants of concern” in the threat classification system used by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The two variants – identified by scientists as B.1.427 and B.1.429 – both appear to be 20 percent more transmissible than the original virus, and some COVID-19 treatments may be less effective against them. The good news, however, is that the CDC does not believe that approved vaccines are significantly less effective against both variants, and neither variant of coronavirus is in the CDC’s highest threat level, the “high-consequence variant.” Three other options – one first detected in the United Kingdom, another in South Africa and another in Japan and Brazil – are also on the CDC’s list of concerns. There are also three other “options of interest”.
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