Leonor Soberanis, an employee at Ferrara Candy, receives her Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from nurse Trevon Harvy on April 15, 2021, in Chicago.
ANTONIO PEREZ, CHICAGO TRIBUNE
So far, roughly 213 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the United States, with more than a quarter of the nation fully vaccinated. The virus is still spreading, with cases rising in many parts of the country.
The Biden administration recently allocated $1.7 billion to fight these troubling variants. Earlier this month, Rush University Medical Center launched an advanced molecular lab dedicated to monitoring and mitigating new strains, in the hopes of preventing outbreaks and further spread.
Here are five things to know about COVID-19 variants:
1. What is a variant? Viruses constantly change through mutation as a natural part of evolution, and variants are expected over time. When the virus infects our cells, it replicates, and sometimes slight changes are made in those copies, causing mutations.
2. Why are variants concerning? Most of those mutations don’t matter much — either they don’t give the virus any new advantage or they disadvantage the virus, so they disappear quickly. But occasionally a variant emerges that’s better adapted to help the virus survive, perhaps by making it more infectious or more easily transmissible. Those are referred to as variants of concern.
3. What variants of concern are in Illinois? More than 1,500 cases of COVID-19 variants have been reported statewide. Of these, 1,141 cases were the B.1.1.7 variant, a more contagious strain first identified in the United Kingdom, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Other variants of concern detected in Illinois include 328 reported cases of the P.1 variant, also known as the Brazil variant;97 reported cases of the B.1.427/B.1.429 variant first found in California; and 19 reported cases of the B.1.351 variant, which was first identified in South Africa.
“These variants seem to spread more easily and quickly than other variants, which may lead to more cases of COVID-19,” the state health department website states. “An increase in the number of cases will put more strain on health care resources, lead to more hospitalizations, and potentially more deaths.”
CDC Says Disinfecting Surfaces to Prevent COVID-19 Is Often for Show. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday that the risk of transmitting COVID-19 through surfaces is low. Chief of the Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch Vincent Hill said while the risk is small, it is elevated on hard, indoor surfaces. Putting on a show … may be used to give people a [false] sense of security that they are being protected from the virus, CDC’s Vincent Hill, via phone briefing. Hill advised that cleaning should be focused on high-contact areas such as doorknobs and light switches. The CDC also added that while cleaning surfaces is a good practice, it is not the most important way to reduce risks
4. If you get sick, can you tell if you have the original COVID-19 strain or a variant? As of yet, a patient or clinician can’t diagnose a variant case of COVID-19 based on symptoms or how the illness presents. Samples of the virus must be tested to determine whether the infection was caused by the original version or a new strain.
5. How can variants be prevented or mitigated? Medical experts say the same public health tools used to fight the original virus strain — masking, social distancing and vaccinating — can decrease transmission of variants of concern and help prevent new ones from emerging.
PHOTOS: Reflecting on COVID-19 in the Midwest, one year later
Bloomington, Illinois
The statue called "Convergence of Purpose" featuring Abraham Lincoln and associates Jesse Fell and David Davis sports face masks on March 30, 2020, in Bloomington.
DAVID PROEBER, THE PANTAGRAPH
Bloomington, Illinois
A Reditus Laboratories technician wearing a face shield instructs a subject how to use a nasa swab to test for the coronavirus at the testing site at the McLean County Fairgrounds, Wednesday, July 22, 2020.
DAVID PROEBER, THE PANTAGRAPH
Bloomington, Illinois
Bruce Unterman joined about 30 protesters who called for Congress to pass a COVID-19 relief package during a protest Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts in Bloomington, Illinois.
DAVID PROEBER, THE PANTAGRAPH
Bloomington, Illinois
More than 100 vehicles waited in line as people waited to be tested for COVID-19 at the Reditus Laboratories testing site at the Interstate Center in Bloomington, Illinois, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020.
DAVID PROEBER, THE PANTAGRAPH
Carbondale, Illinois
A student at Unity Point in Carbondale, Illinois, displays signs for teachers and staff at the school as families drove through the parking lot where the staff had gathered on April 21 after the pandemic forced the school to go to remote learning.
BYRON HETZLER, THE SOUTHERN
Carbondale, Illinois
Doug Robinson, owner of Keepers Quarters in Carbondale, Illinois, measures the space between tables on May 27 as he prepares to start offering outside dining on Friday as part of the next phase of reopening Illinois’ economy.
BYRON HETZLER, THE SOUTHERN
Carbondale, Illinois
Heath Hill, left, cuts a customer’s hair at the Murdale Barbershop on May 29 in Carbondale, Illinois. It was the first day the shop had been open in two months due to the restrictions imposed by the state in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
BYRON HETZLER, THE SOUTHERN
Carbondale, Illinois
A sign reminds voters to wear a mask and socially distance in the 13th Precinct polling place at the Epiphany Lutheran Church on Nov. 3 in Carbondale, Illinois.
BYRON HETZLER, THE SOUTHERN
Carbondale, Illinois
Lori Opp works with her fifth grade class on vocabulary words from her classroom at Lewis Elementary School on Nov. 16 as the school district returned to remote learning due to rising COVID-19 cases.
BYRON HETZLER, THE SOUTHERN
Charleston, Illinois
A sign reminds students to wear a mask and maintain social distance as they walk to and from class on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois, in September.
CLAY JACKSON, HERALD & REVIEW
Charleston, Illinois
Ginger Stanfield leads the Charleston Community Band at the Coles County Fairgrounds on July 3. More than 90 vehicles and 250 people were at the socially distanced concert.
CLAY JACKSON, HERALD & REVIEW
Decatur, Illinois
Hunter Highfill works at an Illinois Department of Public Health COVID testing site at the Decatur Civic Center on Oct. 26 in Decatur, Illinois.
CLAY JACKSON, HERALD & REVIEW
Decatur, Illinois
Vehicles wait at a COVID testing site at the Farm Progress Site in Decatur, Illinois, on Jan. 22.
CLAY JACKSON, HERALD & REVIEW
Decatur, Illinois
Stickers await people who participated in a COVID vaccination clinic on Jan. 22 at the Farm Progress site in Decatur, Illinois.
CLAY JACKSON, HERALD & REVIEW
Decatur, Illinois
Fourth grade instructor Sarah Smith listens to Assistant Director Dave Webster talk about doves during a "virtual field trip" to Scovill Zoo in Decatur, Illinois, on Sept. 11.
CLAY JACKSON, HERALD & REVIEW
Decatur, Illinois
Becca Massey and her daughter Kierra Massey, surprised her aunt, Becky Pickrell, on her 101st birthday by singing happy birthday on March 26 at Randall Residence in Decatur, Illinois. They both had to sing in the front of the building through glass so that everyone would be safe.
CLAY JACKSON, HERALD & REVIEW
Mattoon, Illinois
Police Sgt. Chad Smith speaks with visitors at a COVID-19 check in at Lake Land College in Mattoon, Illinois, on Sept. 3.
CLAY JACKSON, HERALD & REVIEW
Mattoon, Illinois
Callyn Ballinger, 7, holds a sign she made for health care workers outside Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in December in Mattoon, Illinois.
CLAY JACKSON, HERALD & REVIEW
Normal, Illinois
Ellen Straight held a sign wishing her father, Oliver Bidner, love as dozens of cars paraded through The Loft Rehabilitation & Nursing, 510 Broadway in Normal, Illinois, Friday, May 1, 2020. Visits at The Loft were stopped at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak.
DAVID PROEBER, THE PANTAGRAPH
Tuscola, Illinois
Tuscola High School Principal Steve Fiscus sanitizes the gym before the start of the varsity game against Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond on Jan. 29.
CLAY JACKSON, HERALD & REVIEW
Munster, Indiana
From left, Juanita Dortch, Katie Novosel and Michelle Geissler, X-ray technicians at Community Hospital, take a selfie together with first responders in the background on April 19, 2020, in Munster. Police and firefighters from north Lake County and several Illinois agencies paraded around the hospital to recognize the health care workers.
KALE WILK, THE TIMES OF NORTHWEST INDIANA
Merrillville, Indiana
Nick Gianikos, a housing board member at the AHEPA apartments in Merrillville, Indiana, receives his Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from Walgreens pharmacist Mindy Keeton on Jan. 11, 2021.
KALE WILK, THE TIMES OF NORTHWEST INDIANA
Hammond, Indiana
Franciscan Health Hammond health care workers wave to first responders as they parade around the hospital on April 27, 2020.
KALE WILK, THE TIMES OF NORTHWEST INDIANA
Crown Point, Indiana
Keith Moseley, an election clerk, sorts through returned absentee ballots on Oct. 5 at the Lake County Board of Elections and Registration at the Lake County Government Center in Crown Point, Indiana.
KALE WILK, THE TIMES OF NORTHWEST INDIANA
Crown Point, Indiana
Wendy Vottero, a nurse practitioner at Franciscan Health Crown Point, receives a COVID-19 vaccine shot from Rob Dowling, director of emergency medical service, on Dec. 18, 2020, at the hospital in Crown Point, Indiana.
KALE WILK, THE TIMES OF NORTHWEST INDIANA
Burlington, Wisconsin
A man and a girl swing at Echo Park in Burlington, Wisconsin, on May 2 during a ReOpen Burlington protest, even though all playgrounds in Wisconsin had been declared off limits at the time.
ADAM ROGAN, THE JOURNAL TIMES
Burlington, Wisconsin
During an extraordinary and nearly postponed April election, one of the leaders of Wisconsin’s Republican legislative majority, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester, talks to a member of the media while working as a poll worker in Burlington, Wisconsin. “You are incredibly safe to go out," he told viewers while wearing required personal protective equipment in a video that was shared widely on social media throughout the day.
STEPHANIE JONES, THE JOURNAL TIMES
Burlington, Wisconsin
JR Lukenbill, a sophomore guard at Wisconsin’s Burlington High School, shoots over Wilmot High School's Anthony Corona, left, and Korik Klein during their teams' December matchup. As a precaution to prevent the spread of COVID-19, players wore masks in high school athletics events, including in basketball and volleyball.
GREGORY SHAVER, THE JOURNAL TIMES
Caledonia, Wisconsin
The Rev. Mike Matheson of Grace Church, in Caledonia, Wisconsin, prays as he leads church services livestreamed on Facebook Live on the morning of March 22.
GREGORY SHAVER, THE JOURNAL TIMES
Dunn, Wisconsin
Robert Wilson of the town of Dunn in Dane County, Wisconsin, reviews his selections on his ballot after voting at the town's highway garage building on April 7, 2020. Democrats sought to delay the election in light of the surging pandemic, but the state Supreme Court ordered it be held as originally scheduled.
JOHN HART, WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
Fontana-on-Geneva-Lake, Wisconsin
With the coronavirus outbreak prompting many people to wear hospital masks in public, someone decided that the Chief Big Foot statue on the Fontana lakefront should be protected, too, along with a latex glove that does not quite fit right.
SCOTT WILLIAMS, LAKE GENEVA REGIONAL NEWS
Genoa City, Wisconsin
Teacher Haley Peters removes ottomans July 30, 2020, from her classroom at Brookwood Middle School as the Genoa City school aims to combat the coronavirus by eliminating places where the virus could spread.
SCOTT WILLIAMS, LAKE GENEVA REGIONAL NEWS
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Wearing their COVID masks, Eric Itzenhuiser and Heather Lawler are married by the Rev. Johnny Poole at their home in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Saturday, May 2. Life went on despite the pandemic.
SEAN KRAJACIC, KENOSHA NEWS
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Robert Clayton walks with his grandchildren, Greyson, 5, and Harper, 4, around the track at UW-Parkside in Kenosha on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. Kenosha’s Relay for Life took place with many participating virtually — walking laps, sharing supportive stories and hearing presentations via social media. Another difference this year was having a sole honorary cancer survivor at the event. Clayton, 56, was declared free of the disease by November 2017, after getting the disease after his retirement from work in 2003. He walked around the track at UW-Parkside with family to celebrate his cancer-free status.
SEAN KRAJACIC, KENOSHA NEWS
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Matt Sullivan looks through binoculars as he and his wife, Kristin, settle in to watch the Indian Trail football team play Oak Creek in a Southeast Conference game on Friday night, Sept. 25, at Jaskwhich Stadium in Kenosha, Wisconsin. School district requirements in place due to the COVID-19 outbreak kept the stands at the stadium empty, but parents and fans found ways to see the game where they could.
SEAN KRAJACIC, KENOSHA NEWS
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Sam Turner, a kindergartener at Southern Bluffs Elementary School in La Crosse, Wisconsin, wears a mask during his first day of class in nearly ten months after the La Crosse School District welcomed back students for in-person learning.
PETER THOMSON, LA CROSSE TRIBUNE
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Anita Sachs reads her ballot at the Coulee Recovery Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin, before voting in the April primary election. Despite an effort by Gov. Tony Evers to delay the election amid the COVID-19 pandemic, voting went on as planned.
PETER THOMSON, LA CROSSE TRIBUNE
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Bonnie and Dan Felton wave to passersby as they impersonate Santa and Mrs. Claus from a storefront window at Duluth Trading Co. in downtown La Crosse, Wisconsin, in November 2020. Instead of the usual up-close visits inside the store, The Feltons, due to the COVID-19 pandemic will appear in the window several afternoons a week during the Holiday season.
PETER THOMSON, LA CROSSE TRIBUNE
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Fellow registered nurses look on as their colleague, Sheila Berra, administers the first COVID-19 vaccine in La Crosse, Wisconsin, to Tom Jensen, a COVID-19 patient care technician, at Mayo Clinic Health System in December. The vaccine was delivered earlier in the day by Wisconsin State Troopers.
PETER THOMSON, LA CROSSE TRIBUNE
La Crosse, Wisconsin
A sign reads “We Are Open,” outside of Bean Juice coffee shop at Jackson Plaza in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in April.
PETER THOMSON, LA CROSSE TRIBUNE
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Lake Geneva aldermen and city staff gather via video May 19, 2020, to avoid spreading the coronavirus, during a special meeting in which the city council voted to open Riviera Beach to the public.
SCOTT WILLIAMS, LAKE GENEVA REGIONAL NEWS
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Many shoppers and visitors forgo face masks and other public health guidelines on Main Street in downtown Lake Geneva as stores reopen May 17 during the coronavirus pandemic. Many people flocked from Illinois to Lake Geneva after a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling allowed Wisconsin businesses to reopen.
SCOTT WILLIAMS, LAKE GENEVA REGIONAL NEWS
Madison, Wisconsin
Members of the UW-Madison marching band wear face coverings and play instruments with bell covers during a limited-capacity practice session on the campus on Aug. 27, 2020.
JOHN HART, WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
Madison, Wisconsin
UW-Madison graduates, from left, Jacob Tottleben, of St. Louis, Lindsey Fischer, of La Crosse, and Olivia Gonzalez, of Milwaukee, celebrate wiith champagne after their spring commencement ceremony was moved online on May 9, 2020.
AMBER ARNOLD, WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
Madison, Wisconsin
In hindsight, the marquee over the Orpheum Theater in Downtown Madison, Wisconsin, seen here on March 23, 2020, was overly optimistic. Closures of theaters, restaurants, bars and other businesses would stretch well beyond March.
STEVE APPS, WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
Madison, Wisconsin
Hawk Sullivan, owner of Hawk's Bar & Grill in Madison, Wisconsin, was forced to close his restaurant temporarily in March 2020. At least 28 Madison-area restaurants went out of business last year.
STEVE APPS, WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin
Tracy Twigg, a poll worker, opens a stack of absentee ballots to be tabulated at the Pleasant Prairie Village Hall on Monday, April 13, 2020.
SEAN KRAJACIC, KENOSHA NEWS
Racine, Wisconsin
Jordan Mogren arrived to Park High School's drive-up graduation ceremony in Racine, Wisconsin, on July 9 through the sun roof and received a kiss from his mother receiving his diploma.
LAUREN HENNING, RACINE JOURNAL TIMES
Racine, Wisconsin
Summer Davis wears a face shield while standing behind the bar at The Maple Table, a popular restaurant in Racine, Wisconsin, on May 26, 2020, the first day restaurants in the city could reopen following ordered closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
ADAM ROGAN, THE JOURNAL TIMES
Racine, Wisconsin
Jeremy Laffin, owner/pharmacist at Racine Hometown Pharmacy in Wisconsin, gives a brief consultation to patients prior to getting their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, March 9. Laffin walked back and forth, preparing doses behind the counter, then administering them to patients.
DIANA PANUNCIAL, THE JOURNAL TIMES
Williams Bay, Wisconsin
For students who cannot visit the library because of the coronavirus, library staffers Laura Lombardo, left, and Emily Sanders, greet second-graders from Williams Bay Elementary School via a laptop computer camera at Barrett Memorial Library in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, in September 2020.
SCOTT WILLIAMS, LAKE GENEVA REGIONAL NEWS
Winona, Minnesota
Students of the Service Learning Class at Winona Senior High School gathered outside of Winona Health in Winona, Minnesota, in April 2020 to thank the health-care workers for all their hard work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Co-leader Christine Dahlke (holding the letter A) expressed gratitude for those in the community who are continuing to work during the present circumstances. "Just keep supporting your local businesses and your local hospitals," she said. "It's always good to say thank you. I hope we inspire someone."
JOSH DELAROSA, WINONA DAILY NEWS
Winona, Minnesota
Campus traditions to celebrate Halloween and other holidays, like the one pictured at Saint Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota, looked different this year, as students wore masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
RACHEL MERGEN, WINONA DAILY NEWS
Winona, Minnesota
Young children, like Addison Brand, pictured, face a new reality of having to wear masks during their childhood progress exams — something that many parents decided not to complete this year in fear of the pandemic. Brand attended her appointment at the Gundersen Winona Campus in Winona, Minnesota.
RACHEL MERGEN, WINONA DAILY NEWS
Winona, Minnesota
Testing is completed at the Winona Mall’s mass semi-permanent testing site in November in Winona, Minnesota.
JOSH DELAROSA, WINONA DAILY NEWS
Winona, Minnesota
Dr. Joseph Kaiya, pictured, was the first health care worker to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at Winona Health Dec. 18 in Winona, Minnesota.
RACHEL MERGEN, WINONA DAILY NEWS
Horicon, Wisconsin
From left, Riley Peterman and Gianna Begg hold handmade signs showing support for the teachers of Horicon, Wisconsin. Faculty and staff paraded through Burnett, Iron Ridge and Horicon on May 1, 2020, honking and waving to district students and families along the way. Schools were mandated to close this spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.
KELLY SIMON, DAILY CITIZEN
Fountain Prairie, Wisconsin
Gail Schneider maintains a safe distance while photographing the Beaver family April 2, 2020, at their brand new house in the town of Fountain Prairie, Wisconsin. Schneider joins photographers across the nation in the "Front Porch Project," which tells the story of home life in the time of COVID-19.
KELLY SIMON, DAILY CITIZEN
Cambria, Wisconsin
Jordon Anderson of the Wisconsin National Guard waits to bag a sample Oct. 23, 2020, as Wyatt Anderson works next to him during the first biweekly COVID-19 free community testing event at the Cambria Fire Department in Cambria, Wisconsin.
SUSAN ENDRES, DAILY REGISTER
Portage, Wisconsin
Aidan Black gives an "air high-five" to Principal Joshua Sween on June 5, 2020, during Portage High School's socially-distanced, drive-by graduation ceremony. Students along with their families in vehicles were escorted down School Road by Portage and Columbia County first responders and then walked across the stage with their diplomas and finished up with an "air high-five" with Sween. "We wanted them to have some closure," Sween said of the pandemic-adjusted ceremony that also gave the families a chance to take pictures with graduates in front of the high school.
NOAH VERNAU, DAILY REGISTER
Barboo, Wisconsin
John Handlen, vice president of operations for Madison-based Biodome Protection, uses an electrostatic sprayer to apply an antimicrobial surface protectant to the chairs on Sept. 29, 2020, at Al. Ringling Theatre in Baraboo.
SUSAN ENDRES, NEWS REPUBLIC
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