Columbia University researchers said the new variant was identified in samples collected in New York back in November and by mid February represented about 12% of cases.

哥倫比亞大學的研究人員說，新的變異體早在11月就在紐約收集的樣本中被發現，到2月中旬，約佔12%的病例。

The same variant was described in research by California Institute of Technology Scientists.

加州理工學院的科學家在研究中也描述了同樣的變體。

Neither study has been reviewed by outside experts.

這兩項研究都沒有經過外部專家的審查。

According to researchers, the variant contains a mutation that has been shown to greatly reduce the effectiveness of monoclonal and vaccine induced antibodies.

據研究人員介紹，該變異體含有一種突變，已被證明可以大大降低單克隆和疫苗誘導的抗體的有效性。

Those studies have shown that recently launched vaccines are still likely to neutralize the virus and protect against severe illness, even for infections with new variants.

這些研究表明，最近推出的疫苗仍有可能中和病毒，並防止嚴重疾病，即使是對新變種的感染。

Still, vaccine makers are taking no chances.

不過，疫苗製造商們還是沒有冒險。

Some are working to develop booster shots to combat mutated versions of the virus.

一些人正在努力開發增效針劑以對抗變異版本的病毒。