The progress in combating Covid-19 continues to be encouraging, but variants remain a looming threat.
The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) and Yale University have been actively engaged in SARS-CoV-2 variant screening and sequencing in Connecticut, and have been working closely with the state’s Department of Public Health Lab to help identify and monitor the emergence of variants.
Given the rapidly changing nature of these variants in Covid-19, JAX, a MCG client, and Yale held a briefing for state legislators on the current status of variants and sequencing, which is the testing and monitoring of the variants.
Dr. Mark Adams, professor and deputy director of The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, and Dr. Nathan Grubaugh, assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health, covered how this evolving situation is being monitored, which variants are present in the state, and what we know about how the mutations are changing the properties of the virus itself.
While a few new strains of Covid-19 have been identified in the state, Adams says right now there’s not a major change in how patients are clinically treated or in how contact tracing is being performed. He adds, however, “[Variants] are of concern and of interest because of more transmissibility.” Adams explains that these new variants may have the potential to spread more rapidly, especially among certain populations who were previously more resilient to the virus, like the young.
Another area of concern, and where research is being conducted, is how the vaccines respond to new variants. “I think the jury, at this point, is still out of whether or not [a certain strain of the virus] is more likely to be seen in patients who have been vaccinated.”
Adams believes vaccinations are winning out against Covid based on the declining case count in the state, but that doesn’t mean we can put a win up on the scoreboard yet.
“Something really important to keep an eye on moving forward is what the set of circulating strains are, and is that changing in response to the change of conditions here.”
You can watch the entire briefing here.