Even as many around the world are just getting vaccinated for the coronavirus after a year of surviving pandemic regulated protocols, the many variants popping up are only serving to make protecting mankind all the harder.  The P.1 variant, discovered in Brazil this past December, has recently been found in New York, and has already been spotted in 16 other states including Florida and 26 countries including the U.S.

One major concern of this particular variant is that it has infected people who have already had the coronavirus and have recovered from it. Even though catching the virus twice may be rare these variants are making it much more common. Also according to the CDC the coronavirus variants are far more contagious than the original virus.

Since many people have been rushing to get their vaccines worldwide most public places have been loosening their covid-19 restrictions. Most stores/restaurants still have mask mandates and social distancing policies but not many more. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “The detection of the Brazilian variant here in New York further underscores the importance of taking all the appropriate steps to continue to protect your health.”

Even with the restrictions that New York still has in place scientists are speculating that the variants may soon be the primary infection source in the United States. The Britain variant has already had around 5,500 cases in the U.S. alone. This variant is the one that may become that primary variant in America. As for the South African variant there is around 180 cases in the U.S.