June 2021
A newsletter of Zion Hill Baptist Church
THE LIU (pronounced LEE-UU)
COVID-19 Variants and What I Need to Know About Traveling
A
s we all have been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and now having some hope with the implementation of the new vaccines that have been created to combat this lethal virus, there have been variants to this virus that have emerged throughout the country and abroad that have been of concern. Here is some information about COVID-19 variants and CDC travel recommendations to help you better protect yourself: What causes a virus to change to a new variant? ■
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Viruses are very small particles that can multiply and cause disease in people, other animals and plants. All viruses change over time. A virus mutates when it replicates or makes copies of itself. A “variant” occurs when there are one or more new mutations of the original virus. creases when a virus is widely circulating in a population and causing many infections. Multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 are circulating throughout the world and within the United States.
United States:
■ P.1:
January 2021
■ B.1.427 and B.1.429:
in the US at the end of January 2021
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B.1.617: Most recent variant of concern:
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expected to provide some level of protection against new virus variants. ■ Data is continually being collected and
■ B.1.617: Is a highly transmissible
and it has caused over 4,000 COVID related deaths a day in India. It has been designated as a variant of global concern by the World Health Organization (WHO). ■
be more transmissible, better at attacking one’s immune system, and causing more severe disease than the other existing variants.
■ B.1.1.7: initially detected in the United
US in December 2020 ■ B1.351: initially detected in South Afri-
What impact does the COVID-19 vaccines have on the new variants?
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strain across India and has spread to about 40 nations.
and scientists on new variants of the COVID-19 virus to better understand COVID-19 vaccines, and to learn more about controlling the spread of these variants. What can be done to limit the spread of variants? ■
Getting fully vaccinated with an FDA authorized vaccine, physical distancing, use of mask; hand-hygiene, isolation (continued on page 9)