Another variant recently emerged in Nigeria. CDC also is monitoring this strain but, at this time, there is no evidence to indicate this variant is causing more severe illness or increased spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
Scientists are working to learn more about these variants, and more studies are needed to understand:
- How widely these new variants have spread
- How the new variants differ
- How the disease caused by these new variants differs from the disease caused by other variants that are currently circulating
Public health officials are studying these variants quickly to learn more to control their spread. They want to understand whether the variants:
- Spread more easily from person to person
- Cause milder or more severe disease in people
- Are detected by currently available viral tests
- Respond to medicines currently being used to treat people for COVID-19
Change the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. There is no evidence that this is occurring, and most experts believe this is unlikely to occur because of the nature of the immune response to the virus.
At the moment, the new strain should not cause any additional concern. Utilizing the same prevention methods -washing your hands and wearing a mask – are said to be enough protection from novel covid-19 variants.
The new strain is being monitored closely. The CDC is working to detect and characterize emerging viral variants and expand its ability to look for COVID-19 and new variants.