The Latest on the Coronavirus Variants from New York and California

• Two new variants of the novel coronavirus have been identified, one in California and another in New York.
• Researchers suspect that the variants may be more infectious than previous ones, and there’s a chance that the California variant may be deadlier.
• Experts expect that current vaccines will still provide good protection against the variants.

New coronavirus variants are popping up.

A new variant called P.1, is behind the surge in cases in Brazil. There’s another, B.1.1.7, that’s spreading throughout the United Kingdom and now the U.S. as well. And the B.1.351 is dominating in South Africa.

Researchers have also recently identified two new variants in the United States — the B.1.427/B.1.429 variant in California (or CAL.20C) and another, called B.1.526, in New York.

The variants contain different mutations but are all thought to be more transmissible and could potentially increase the severity of disease.

Recent studies on the new variant detected in California suggest it may be more transmissible, better at replicating itself, and less recognizable to antibodies.

Overall, the research is in the early stages, and more data is needed to understand how the California and New York variants differ from the original coronavirus.

Here’s what we know so far.