Lawmakers set to hear concerns over spread of COVID variants

BOSTON — The rise and spread of COVID variants across Massachusetts will be the main topic of a House committee hearing later Tuesday morning. Lawmakers want to hear from doctors about these new mutations and the potential dangers as they try to prevent a fourth wave.

The joint committee on COVID and Emergency Preparedness Management will talk about the latest numbers in Massachusetts regarding the variants.

According to state health officials, there are now more than 1,400 variant cases. Massachusetts currently is ninth in the nation for the number of cases of the British variant—with about 1,280 cases. State health officials also reported 113 cases of the Brazil variant and 12 cases of the South African variant.

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HAPPENING TODAY: Lawmakers are set to hear from doctors about the rising cases of COVID variants in the state and how to prevent a fourth wave, the story coming up on @boston25 this morning. pic.twitter.com/jWmjkdc13a
— Kelly Sullivan (@ksullivannews) April 13, 2021

The reason why health officials are concerned about the variants is that they have the potential to spread faster and can cause more severe cases. But there are reports that the vaccines offer good protection against the British variant.

“One of the wildcards in vaccine failures, the variants, and depending upon the particular variant vaccines handled them relatively well or not necessarily as well,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “Now, a vaccine may fail, if a person is exposed to a new or a different strain or variant.”

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Dr. Fauci did say there were essentially no deaths or hospitalizations in the individuals who were vaccinated.

Despite the rising number of variant cases in Massachusetts, the number of hospitalizations has slightly gone up but has remained steady. There are 699 people in hospitals right now with COVID. That’s compared to this time just about a year ago when the state was at its peak with just under 4,000 hospitalizations.

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