South African mutant virus enters U.S. for the first time, two cases here

Two cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) associated with a South African variant of the virus have been identified, U.S. health officials in South Carolina said Jan. 28. This is the first Time a more transmissible South African variant of the virus has been seen in the United States.

The virus is shifting, but the presence of the South African variant in the U.S. is particularly worrisome because several laboratory studies have shown that it reduces the effectiveness of vaccines.

So far, vaccines produced by Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc/BioNTech still appear to protect against the mutated virus, but the companies said this week that they are considering new versions of the vaccine as a precaution.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement that it is aware of the cases and noted that there is no evidence that the mutated virus causes more serious illness.