Free Republic

A new variant has been detected in a Kentucky nursing home, infecting 45 residents and health care personnel. Many of these infections arose in fully vaccinated individuals. The variant, which originated in Japan, has over 10,000 entries in the GISAID SARS-CoV-2 database. The variant contains five mutations previously noted in variants of concern or interest, two of which are in the Spike protein (Figure 1). It also contains many unique mutations. Here we describe the potential effects of each mutation on replication, immune evasion, and pathogenesis. Mutations in R.1 found in other variants. Those in red are unique to R.1....

A new COVID variant that infected vaccinated residents and staff at a Kentucky nursing home has been detected in 47 U.S. states, according to data. The R.1 variant spread through 45 residents and staff at the nursing home after an unvaccinated staff member triggered the infections in March, the Kentucky Department of Public Health revealed. Due to its mutation, the variant, first detected in Japan, was able to bypass the antibody protection present in the fully vaccinated. According to Outbreak.info, a website that collects data on COVID variants, as of September 21, R.1 has now infected more than 10,567 people...