CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A new, potentially more contagious coronavirus variant is hitting London and the UK hard.
The concern is so great, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is shutting down the country and some European nations are temporarily shutting down travel to and from England.
With that said, what about us? Could we see a variant of the coronavirus in the Coastal Bend? And if so, how concerned should we be?
Dr. Jaime Fergie, Infectious Disease Specialist at Driscoll Children's Hospital said a variant of the virus is possibly already here.
"So it is possible that it's here already," Dr. Fergie said. "So the question is, would it make a big difference?"
Fergie said the variant, or mutation of the COVID-19 virus, has been closely monitored since September and has been occurring in other parts of the world.
Fergie said the current coronavirus vaccines should protect against virus variants.
"Now the important thing is that, at this point, the information that we have tells us that the vaccine is gonna be effective against this variance," Fergie said. "Now we're gonna keep, of course, a close watch on this because you know it could potentially, potentially we could have what is called an 'escape variant,' which means it's something the vaccine will not cover. But I think we're far away from that at this point."
Dr. Fergie's take on the mutation of the COVID-19 virus can be broken down like this: as with other new variants or strains of COVID-19, this one carries a genetic fingerprint which makes it easier to track. It happens to be the one that is now most common, Fergie said.
The alone, however, does not necessarily mean the mutation has made it spread more easily, nor does it mean this variation is more dangerous.
"We know something, that it's not worse in terms of if you get it, you're not going to get sicker with it," Fergie said. "We're still learning a lot about this."
A variant of a virus happens when the genetic structure of the virus changes. Viruses mutate all the time and are common, including with the novel coronavirus.
So, will the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines protect us should health experts see a variant here?
"I am confident right now that the vaccines are going to be fine for this area," Dr. Fergie said.
While the vaccines are now being administered, Dr. Fergie said we should keep wearing masks and taking the necessary precautions.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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