COVID-19 Variants and Their Effects With and Without the Vaccine By Jennifer Coates
By Julia Romano
Just as COVID-19 cases appeared to have been significantly decreasing across the country and the world, along comes a new variant to take the pandemic off of the back burner. According to the RI Department of Health (RIDOH), the following provides the meaning and potential problems of COVID-19 variant viruses, highlighting the Delta variant, which is now affecting Rhode Islanders and many others across the nation, as well as globally. Viruses change all the time—this is normal and expected. These changes can happen when a virus moves from person to person. When a virus changes, the new version is called a variant. There are multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19. Scientists and health and medical experts are studying these variants to understand how changes to the virus affect how it spreads and how it infects people. Variants are found all over the world. The CDC is keeping track of these variants and posts updates to a web page about COVID-19 variants. Some variants spread more easily and quickly than other variants. This means they can cause more cases of COVID-19, which can lead to more hospitalizations and more deaths. Some variants may also impact our treatments, vaccines, and tests. We call these “variants of concern.” COVID-19 variants of concern are now dominant in Rhode Island. RIDOH is monitoring these variants and posting data on the COVID-19 Data Tracker. Data suggest that COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the United States offer protection against current COVID-19 variants. All COVID-19 tests can detect all variants, but they will not tell you which variant you have. 78 Shop In RI
We can all help prevent these variants from spreading by following basic guidance to protect your household. This helps Rhode Island’s families, businesses, and economy. Continue to wear your mask, watch your distance, follow quarantine and isolation requirements, get tested often, and get vaccinated when it’s available to you. What We Don’t Know About Variants Scientists are working to learn more about these variants, and more studies are needed to understand: How widely these variants have spread. Whether these variants cause milder or more severe disease in people. How these variants may affect current treatments, vaccines, and tests.
What Rhode Island is Doing RIDOH State Health Laboratories coordinate the SARSCoV-2 genomic surveillance program in partnership with the CDC and clinical and academic laboratories. This means they are sequencing and analyzing a representative selection of samples of the virus
