Detecting new coronavirus strains

In addition to a flu shot each year, we are all likely going to need COVID-19 booster shots, because (like all viruses) the novel coronavirus that causes the disease keeps mutating.

Strains from the U.K. and South Africa are already here and scientists are struggling to keep up. There are currently three known mutations: U.K., South African and Brazilian.

Robert Hawkes, program director of Florida Gulf Coast University’s physician assistant program, says these new variants won’t be detected as they emerge with the rapid COVID-19 test; the more in-depth PCR test will detect it. Health experts call it the gold standard because it’s the most accurate.

“They do some of the PCR testing, where they will take all of those test results that they are accumulating from people and they will go do research on them, and that’s really how they discover the variant,” Hawkes said. “So, as an example, in Brazil they were finding it in as high as 75% of the cases.”

Hawkes says the virus mutates enough that it is possible the U.S. could develop its own variant of the disease.

“It’s possible that there may be different locations around the United States where there’s going to be a concentration where the virus will change, and then they will determine that it’s completely different than the original COVID[-19] or some of the other variants,” Hawkes said. “Yes, it is possible that we could have a U.S. variant.”

Evidence suggests that the currently approved COVID-19 vaccines still protect against symptoms caused by these new strains of the coronavirus, even if they may prove somewhat less effective.