The California strain of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, also known as the “epsilon” variant, is characterized by increased infectiousness, as well as a moderately reduced susceptibility to antibodies that are produced after illness and vaccination. So the danger of this strain was expressed in the World Health Organization (WHO) in the comments to “Lente.ru”.
According to the WHO, the number of cases of infection with this type of virus, as well as variants of “zeta” and “theta” has decreased, which indicates a decrease in their prevalence in the world and a decrease in the risk to public health compared to other strains. In this regard, the organization has ceased to regard them as variants of the virus of concern. “All three options are under constant surveillance, and if there is new evidence of their danger, then their classification will be revised,” – said the WHO.
Earlier it was reported that scientists at the University of Washington and the Vir Biotechnology laboratory in San Francisco concluded that mutations in the California strain reduce the effectiveness of the available vaccines by up to 50-70 percent. So, the virus manages to neutralize antibodies that are produced after the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. In addition, antibodies formed after the transferred COVID-19 are also under attack.
Overall, approximately 97 percent of the 49,221 cases of this variant (also known as B.1.427 and B.1.429 strains) worldwide have been reported in the United States, with more than half in California. However, according to media reports, the new variant of the virus is also a matter of serious concern to the French leadership.
