COVID South African Variant Cases Found In Bay Area, Marking 1st In California
FRESNO (CBS SF) — The first California cases of a South African variant of the COVID-19 virus have been found in Bay Area, Governor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday.
Newsom made the announcement at a press conference Wednesday in Fresno to update the state's vaccine response and unveil a new vaccination site for the Central Valley.
"As of a few hours ago, we have the first reported cases of South African variants," said Newsom. "Two cases have been reported at Stanford, one in Alameda and in one in Santa Clara County."
The South African 501Y.V2 variant is one of several recent mutations of the virus, most of which involve changes to its spike protein — the part of the virus that enables it to enter human cells — that may make it more contagious and slightly more resistant to vaccines.
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