Scientists identify two new coronavirus variants

Researchers in Ohio said Wednesday that they'd discovered two new variants of the coronavirus that likely originated in the US — one of which quickly became the dominant strain in Columbus, Ohio, over three weeks in late December and early January.

Like the strain first detected in the UK, the US mutations appear to make Covid-19 more contagious but do not seem like they will diminish the vaccines' effectiveness, researchers said.

One of the new strains, found in just one patient in Ohio, contains a mutation identical to the now-dominant variant in the UK, researchers said, noting that it "likely arose in a virus strain already present in the United States." However, the "Columbus strain," which the researchers said in a press release has become dominant in the city, includes "three other gene mutations not previously seen together in SARS-CoV2."

"This new Columbus strain has the same genetic backbone as earlier cases we've studied, but these three mutations represent a significant evolution," Dr. Dan Jones, vice-chair of the division of molecular pathology at Ohio State and lead author of the study, said in a statement. "We know this shift didn't come from the UK or South African branches of the virus."

Jones added that it's too early to determine how much more infectious the strain in Columbus might be, but researchers believe it's likely more contagious just based on how quickly it's spread over the past few weeks.

Peter Mohler, chief scientific officer at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and co-author of the forthcoming study, said there's no data to indicate that either of the new strains will impact vaccines' effectiveness.

In mid-December, it became known that a new mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was discovered in the UK. Later, the United Kingdom authorities confirmed that the variant of coronavirus detected in the country is spreading at a faster rate and requires the population to be even more careful. According to preliminary estimates, the new strain maybe 70% more contagious than usual. Nothing yet suggests that it is more dangerous in terms of mortality or hospitalization.