Coronavirus strains first detected in California are officially ‘variants of concern,’ CDC says
CNNCNN — Two coronavirus strains first detected in California are now officially “variants of concern,” according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No coronavirus variants currently rise to the US government’s highest threat level, “variant of high consequence.” Coronavirus strains shown to significantly reduce vaccine effectiveness would fall under that category. Concerns about antibody treatments Still, health officials are concerned that some treatments may not work as well against the variants, which are officially called B.1.427 and B.1.429. Eli Lilly said Tuesday that it is continually monitoring the Covid-19 environment for variants and testing its therapies against a “wide array of emerging mutations and variants.” “It has always been our view that additional antibodies from Lilly and others will need to be developed to address the evolution of the virus, including emerging variants that can differ by country or even by state,” Eli Lilly said in a statement emailed to CNN on Tuesday.