New R.1 variant of the covid virus has been detected in United States in Kentucky, where the infections rates are relatively high. The virus outbreak was first identified at a skilled nursing facility in Kentucky, Governor Andrew Graham Beshear said.
According to the reports of Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 26 residents and 20 healthcare workers were tested positive for Covid, among the total of 83 residents and 116 health care workers. Roughly 90% of the residents and 52% of the staff in the facility had received both shots of vaccine doses. 25.4% of the residents and 7.1% of the workers are reported to be infected which raises serious concerns about the vaccines’ protective immunity towards R.1.
The R.1 is not yet defined as a variant of concern by CDC, although the strain possesses several important mutations including increased virus transmissibility. Another mutation showed by R.1 suggests that the variant can reduce the effectiveness of the antibodies. Despite the breakthrough infections, R.1 does not seem to be outcompeting the Delta variant which is now dominant in United States.
In January 2021, R.1 was first detected in Japan in three members of a family including two children under the age 10. These patients had no record of travelling abroad according to the NIH reports.
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