First South African COVID Variant Identified In New Jersey

NEW JERSEY — The South African variant of the coronavirus is one of six newly reported variants of the disease that were reported in New Jersey on Wednesday, officials announced. The other new variants were not identified.

“There are now 145 CDC variants of concern in the state,” New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

The South African variant is one of three variants the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) is concerned about, along with the UK variant and the Brazilian variant, according to the state department of health.

The concern is that, while they are not necessarily considered more dangerous, these variants can spread more easily than the others and could be harder to contain.

The UK variant and the Brazilian variant were previously reported to have a presence in the state. The New York variant is also a concern because of the number of cases that have popped up in the Empire State. It has also been detected in New Jersey.

The new variant arrives at a time when New Jersey is ramping up its vaccination efforts. According to a report by CBS News, a "small-scale study" suggested that the new South African strain could lessen antibody protection provided by the Pfizer vaccine by about two-thirds. Pfizer said there is no clinical evidence to support that statement, according to the report.

While the state is concerned about the growing number of variants, Gov. Phil Murphy said he was not surprised.

“We’ve been assuming they were in our midst, but now we’re confirming yet another one,” Murphy said.

The state department of health’s Public Health and Environmental Lab is conducting sequencing on all variants in cases with atypical transmission patterns, cases involving international travel and random samples from across the state.

It is also working with multiple partners to increase testing for the variants, according to officials. Specimens from New Jersey residents are also selected randomly and sent to the CDC as part of a CDC surveillance program.

When variant cases are confirmed local and state public health officials perform an investigation that includes contact tracing. Contacts are notified and advised to quarantine, officials said.

Residents can protect themselves against the variants by following the same guidelines the CDC has in place for preventing the spread of the virus, including wearing masks, maintaining 6 feet of social distance, and practicing proper sanitary behavior, according to officials.