There’s yet another mutated variant of COVID-19, this one called R.1.
The CDC has identified this one as having multiple spike protein mutations.
These mutations make it less susceptible to vaccines, according to Dr. Joe DeRisi, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF and co-president of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.
His team is currently sequencing COVID variants.
DeRisi explains that the Delta variant in comparison to R.1 has more mutations to the spike proteins, which allows it to spread faster.
The R.1 has mutations found in the Gamma and Beta variants.
The first cases of R.1 were found in a nursing home in Kentucky among both vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
There have been 2,282 cases of R.1 since March in the United States with 53 in California.
The Delta variant continues to be the biggest threat, already having mutated 20 times in the United States.
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