Brief: Coronavirus FAQs – Variants, Testing, Transmission

Friday, June 25, 2021

Long talking points

• Coronavirus FAQ:

  • I’ve been vaccinated. Do I need to worry about variants?

    • The COVID-19 vaccines are expected to protect you from new virus variants, according to the World Health Organization
    • The Delta variant, which the CDC has dubbed as a “variant of concern”, is still a guessing game, however. The Delta variant was first identified in India and was responsible for India’s surge in cases, and is now responsible for 20% of new cases in the US
    • But if you’re fully vaccinated, two weeks after your second dose, the odds are highly favorable that you won’t get Covid, or a severe case at least.
    • While current evidence shows COVID-19 vaccines offer good protection against the new variants, Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson are developing booster shots, targeting the variants of concern.

  • How do varients form?

    • Viruses mutate to form new variants. It happens frequently, which is why the flu vaccine composition is reviewed each year and updated as needed.
    • When a virus enters your body, it infects one of your cells and tries to make copies of itself to infect other cells. In the process of copying it’s own genetic strands, the virus will occasionally make small errors called mutations. Depending on the mutation, the virus can become weaker or stronger. When the virus begins reproducing the mutation itself, it leads to new variants of the virus strain.

  • What is the difference between a strain and a variant?

    • You might hear the terms variant and strain used interchangeably in the media, but the variant needs to have significant changes to be recognized as a new strain. For example, the strain identified in the United Kingdom (U.K.), B.1.1.7, has 17 genetic differences than the original strain of the coronavirus.

  • How is Covid testing performed?

    • The nose swab PCR test is the most common and effective form of COVID-19 testing available. While the PCR swab test can detect if you are sick with COVID-19, it does not indicate which strain you are infected with. Turnaround time varies from minutes to days or longer, depending on whether the sample is analyzed onsite or sent to an outside lab
    • What does PCR mean?
      • Also called a molecular test, this COVID-19 test detects genetic material of the virus using a lab technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
    • There are 3 types of Covid tests right now:
      • 1) PCR nose swab (aka RNA test) – explained above.
      • 2) Antigen test (aka Rapid Test) – It’s called a rapid test because the turn around time is much quicker than the PCR (RNA) test.It is performed with a swab similar to the PCR test but the turn around time is much quicker, in an hour or less.
      • 3) Antibody test (aka serology test or blood test) – This test looks for antibodies to the coronavirus. Antibodies are proteins your immune system produces to fight off a foreign invader, such as a virus. A COVID-19 antibody test cannot diagnose active coronavirus infection. All it tells you is whether you’ve been infected at some point in the past, even if that occurred months ago. Antibodies do not become detectable until at least several days after an infection has started.

  • Preventing transmission of coronavirus

    • At this stage, though, one thing remains clear: Existing methods to prevent transmission of COVID-19 are still the most effective strategies. These include:
      • Getting vaccinated
      • Masking, or even double masking
      • Avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated indoor spaces
      • Washing your hands regularly