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New York has joined a growing list of more than a dozen states that have confirmed at least one case of a disturbing coronavirus variant first discovered in Brazil.
The worrying variant, known as P.1, is highly contagious and has in some cases re-infected people who had previously recovered from the coronavirus. About 48 cases of the variant have now been reported in at least 16 states, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is now in at least 25 other countries.
Scientists expect that the variants will soon become the main source of infection in the United States. The country has been fighting to vaccinate as many people as possible before that happens, even as some states ease lockdown restrictions.
Florida has recorded 21 cases of the P.1 variant, most from all states, according to the latest CDC data. At least 49 states and Puerto Rico have reported around 5,500 cases of the variant first identified in Britain, which may soon be the dominant form of the virus in the United States. Another 180 cases of a variant first found in South Africa have also been reported.
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Saturday that the state’s first P.1 case was identified by scientists at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital in a Brooklyn resident in the 1990s with no history of trip.
“The detection of the Brazilian variant here in New York further underscores the importance of taking all appropriate measures to continue to protect your health,” Cuomo said in a statement.
Scientists are concerned about the P.1 variant because it shares many mutations with the now dominant variant in South Africa, known as B.1.351. The vaccines manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer still protect against this variant, but they are slightly less effective. The vaccines are expected to perform similarly against P.1.
The pace of vaccinations is accelerating in the United States. About 79.4 million people received at least one dose of the vaccine on Saturday, the CDC said. In New York City, at least 25 percent of the population has received at least one dose.
Variant P.1 was first reported in Japan in December, in four people who had traveled from Brazil. It quickly became dominant in Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon region of the country, and spread to other South American cities. He reached the United States in January, first appearing in Minnesota.
Three studies have offered insight into the rise of the variant in Brazil, which is likely to intensify in winter and fuel a record increase in coronavirus cases, in part due to its increased contagiousness. It also had the ability to infect some people immune to previous episodes of Covid-19.
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