Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last Saturday that the new variant of COVID-19, originally found in the UK, has made its way to our shores.
A 64-year-old Massapequa man tested positive for the new strain on Dec. 27. So far, four New Yorkers have tested positive for the mutated version of the virus. The case is unrelated to the cases found in Saratoga County. The Nassau County Department of Health and contact tracers are investigating to see who has been in contact with the Massapequa resident.
Although the new strain is more contagious, by 70% to be exact, it is no more deadly than the original strain according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Scientists are still researching whether the current Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines will be effective against the strain, but so far, most experts say the vaccines’ effectiveness changing, “is unlikely to occur because of the nature of the immune response to the virus.”
