"It was a bit surprising that it was already here," he said. The new variant is responsible for a surge in coronavirus cases in a a region of India that includes Mumbai, and experts are worried the variant is spreading rapidly setting up an increasingly urgent race between variants and vaccines. "The vaccines may be slightly less effective in preventing moderate disease or moderate illness with this particular variant," Dr. Pinsky said, "but the vaccines are still very effective and people should get vaccinated as soon as possible." UCSF Doctor Peter Chin-Hong says the variant contains one mutation identical to the West Coast variant and a second one similar to variants first found in Brazil and South Africa.