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  • a new coronavirus variant is on the rise in New York City, and health officials warn it shares some similarities with a more transmissible and intractable one first discovered in South Africa.

  • Columbia University researchers said the new variant was identified in samples collected in New York back in November and by mid February represented about 12% of cases.

  • The same variant was described in research by California Institute of Technology Scientists.

  • Neither study has been reviewed by outside experts.

  • According to researchers, the variant contains a mutation that has been shown to greatly reduce the effectiveness of monoclonal and vaccine induced antibodies.

  • Those studies have shown that recently launched vaccines are still likely to neutralize the virus and protect against severe illness, even for infections with new variants.

  • Still, vaccine makers are taking no chances.

  • Some are working to develop booster shots to combat mutated versions of the virus.

a new coronavirus variant is on the rise in New York City, and health officials warn it shares some similarities with a more transmissible and intractable one first discovered in South Africa.

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