NUECES COUNTY, Texas — City-County Public Health Director Annette Rodriguez tells 3News that this week, the county was notified of eight cases of another variant strain, the B.1.1.7, which is said to be very transmissible.
This brings the total variant case count to 11 in Nueces County.
So how effective are the vaccines we currently have in battling these strains?
Rodriguez said the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine has been proven to be more effective in protecting against the variant strain of COVID-19 such as the South African strain B.1.351. The Moderna vaccine has shown to be been less effective against that strain.
"Have we identified any South African in Nueces?' Rodriguez said. "Not yet, but we believe it will be here soon because we know in Texas, there is less than 10 cases of the B.1.351 and it spreads very rapidly."
Rodriguez encourages the community to continue coming out to get vaccinated and to protect children who are still unvaccinated at this time.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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