California records first cases of South African coronavirus variant, Newsom says

Two cases of a new coronavirus variant have been reported in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.

The variant, known as B.1.351, originated in South Africa in October, but was not detected in the United States until late last month.

Researchers at Stanford University now report the strain has appeared in two people in the Bay Area, with one case in Alameda County and the other in Santa Clara County.

“As of a few hours ago, we have the first reported cases of the South African variants in the state of California,” Newsom said Wednesday while speaking from a vaccine distribution site in Fresno.

It is unclear how exactly the South African variant is different from other strains, and whether it affects the severity of infection.

The Centers for Disease Control report that preliminary evidence from non-peer-reviewed publications suggests that the Moderna vaccine may be less effective against this variant, but additional studies are needed.

The state’s overall coronavirus infections are down, Newsom said. A month ago, California was reporting a positivity rate over 13%. Today, that rate is lower than 5%.

The state recorded 8,390 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. In December, California reported tens of thousands of new cases per day, peaking above 50,000 cases.

California has delivered more than 5 million vaccine doses so far and the governor says the state is receiving about 1 million doses per week.

Newsom said other variants have been reported in the state, including 159 cases of a strain first identified in the United Kingdom and more than 1,200 cases of two variants that originated on the West Coast.

This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 2:00 PM with the headline "California records first cases of South African coronavirus variant, Newsom says."