Newsom Says More COVID-19 Variants Confirmed In California

Sacramento, CA — Governor Gavin Newsom says the first cases of the South African variant of COVID-19 have been confirmed in California.

One case was in Alameda County and the other was in Santa Clara. Health officials are most concerned about that particular variant because early studies indicate it may be more resistant to the COVID-19 vaccines.

Newsom adds that there have also been 159 cases of the UK variant in California and over 1,200 cases of two known West Coast variants.

The Governor adds, “The issue of mutations is top of mind, not only here in the state of California, across this nation, but increasingly around the globe.”

Newsom made the announcement yesterday while touting the need to increase vaccinations and plans to increase clinics over the coming weeks. Five-million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in California to date. Locally, 7,742 doses have been given out in Tuolumne County and 7,742 in Calaveras County.