Photo: Pixabay on April 8, 2021 Amid a recent increase in COVID-19 variant cases in Santa Clara County, researchers at the Stanford Clinical Virology Lab discovered another new variant in the county, called the “double mutant.” It was first reported in India and is now the first confirmed case in California. Higher transmissibility and reduced immune response against the variant are concerning, but “it seems likely that our current vaccines, especially the mRNA products, will remain effective,” wrote infectious disease clinical professor Stanley Deresinski in an email to The Daily. Every variant of concern has now been detected in Santa Clara County, including the B.1.1.7 strain originally discovered in the United Kingdom, B.1.351 in South Africa, P.1 in Brazil, B.1.525 and B.1.52 in New York and L452R, now known as B.1.427 and B.1.429, in California.