Health experts are concerned that a highly contagious new COVID-19 variant first detected in Peru last year might be resistant to vaccines.
The lambda variant, or C.37, was first discovered last August. It is believed to be the reason behind Peru’s high death rate. The strain has since spread to 30 other countries, according to the New York Post. So far, there are no reported cases of the strain in the United States.
“So far, we have seen no indication that the lambda variant is more aggressive,” World Health Organization virologist Jairo Mendez-Rico told a German news outlet. “It is possible that it may exhibit higher infection rates, but we don’t yet have enough reliable data to compare it to gamma or delta.”
The WHO has listed lambda as a “variant of interest” because it has mutated in a way that can make it more transmissible. The organization is also unsure if the “neutralizing antibodies” inside the body that the vaccines produce will be effective against the variant.
But on Tuesday, the White House issued a vote of confidence that coronavirus vaccines are effective against the lambda strain.
“…early data suggests that the vaccines continue to work against the variants, including this variant, and that’s why we’ve been focusing so much on increasing vaccinations across the country,” press secretary Jen Psaki said during a White House briefing on Tuesday. “As with every strain, getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself and others from any other COVID strain.”
Psaki also said there are no plans to implement any new national COVID-19 restrictions at this time. Any new coronavirus measures would be left to the individual states to implement based on that state’s own set of circumstances.
