New COVID Variant That May Evade Vaccines, Antibodies Found in New York

A new COVID variant that some think is more contagious than the Delta variant and maybe resist vaccine has been found in New York

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The Mu variant of coronavirus is spreading fast. It's been confirmed in four dozen countries and every state except Nebraska, including New York.

The World Health Organization is worried about the Mu variant because it may be vaccine-resistant, but officials need to study the variant more.

"The Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape. Preliminary data presented to the Virus Evolution Working Group show a reduction in neutralization capacity of convalescent and vaccinee sera similar to that seen for the Beta variant, but this needs to be confirmed by further studies," the WHO writes about the new variant.

On Tuesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed the Mu variant has been found in New York. As of Tuesday, the Mu variant makes up 0.5 percent of all cases in New York, according to Hochul.

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Hochul says state officials will monitor the variant closely because it may be "problematic" but as of now federal officials stress the Mu variant isn't an immediate threat.

"The CDC tells us right now (it's) not an immediate threat. There were some early reports that it might be resistant to vaccines, that has not been established. But if that's the case, it's could be problematic. And I want to know we're on top of that," Hochul said.