NEW HAVEN, Conn — As we hit the one-year mark of COVID-19's presence here in Connecticut, there is a new area of concern on the coronavirus front.
Yale School of Public Health research has revealed the B117 COVID-19 variant that was first discovered in the U.K., makes up more than one-quarter of Connecticut's COVID-19 cases. And, by the end of March, researchers believe the UK variant could make up the vast majority of cases.
"We have been expecting that overtime this variant would start to take more hold in the United States," said Dr. Manisha Juthani, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Yale School of Medicine & Yale School of Public Health.
With higher transmissibility, prevention is, of course, paramount.
"If we continue on the vaccination pace that we are on in Connecticut and we continue with masking and distancing, we will be able to fight off this variant as well," said Juthani.
"We don’t see enough in epidemiology for us to be overly concerned, not at this point," said Keith Grant, APRN, who's the Senior System Director of Infection Prevention with Hartford HealthCare.
Grant adds that the less prevalent the variant first discovered in South Africa is of more concern. But there's hope.
"The Johnson and Johnson vaccine actually showed very good efficacy with that (South African variant) and Pfizer and Moderna, in multiple studies, still needing peer review, have shown some efficacy."
Roughly a third of the state is vaccinated. So, some believe it's too soon for Connecticut to be relaxing restrictions as much as they will be next week.
"I would like to see roughly two-thirds of the population vaccinated, at least," said Juthani.
She believes that the vaccination level can be attained by the end of April.
Grant's advice: "Keep doing what you’re doing."
But when might this all end? Juthani did not hesitate to answer.
"I very much think this virus is here to stay, unfortunately," she said. "And we are going to need to learn to live with it."
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