Here is what we know about the Lambda variant in Canada

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The exact case count of the latest COVID-19 variant in Canada is unclear. As of Friday, 11 cases of the Lambda variant had been discovered in Canada, says Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam. Tuesday, CTV reported that Quebec screened and reported 27 Lambda cases between March 11 and May 5 of this year. Last week Alberta reported two cases of the variant, Ontario reported six Lambda cases and British Columbia reported one.

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It’s too early to say how infectious the new variant called Lambda is, Tam said, or its response to vaccines. Here’s what we know so far about Lambda:

What is the variant?

The Lambda variant, also known as “C.37,” has spread at a rapid pace through South America, reports CNBC. The variant was flagged as a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization (WHO) on June 14.

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“Lambda has been associated with substantive rates of community transmission in multiple countries, with rising prevalence over time concurrent with increased Covid-19 incidence,” said the WHO in a report.

Lambda is among a “whole slew” of variants that the Public Health Agency Canada is tracking by watching how it spreads and how it will respond to vaccines, said Tam.

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“We’re just trying to gather up some information on who it is that’s having the Lambda variant right now, but there’s very few cases at this point,” Tam said.

Do vaccines work against Lambda?

Lambda may be slightly resistant to antibodies from mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, based on early studies, including one from New York University published on July 2, but conclusions suggest it may not be enough to significantly erode protection against infection.

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There has been a pattern of ensuing panic that vaccines won’t work each time a new variant is identified, said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization.

“It’s like ‘Oh no, new mutations,’ but actually Lambda doesn’t really have new mutations, it just has new combinations of mutations that we’ve already seen before,” said Rasmussen.

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The majority of vaccine testing on variants is done in labs, not people, Rasmussen added, which gives an incomplete picture of the process of immunity from vaccines where T-cells that are independent of antibodies also help to kill viruses.

People should understand that both variants and mutations are a typical evolutionary process, Rasmussen said. Viruses are able to spread by making copies of themselves in human or animal cells. Oftentimes these copies are not perfect.

At times the mutation makes it stronger, and the virus gets lucky, Rasmussen said. This can mean it infects people easier, or makes people sicker, or may resist vaccines. A variant is considered “of interest” if it is suspected to do one of those three things and has been found in multiple places. Variants are labelled as “of concern” if any suspicions of these three things are confirmed.

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Lambda does carry a “number of mutations,” according to the WHO, that could heighten resistance to antibodies or make it more transmissible, reports CBC.

“There are mutations on the spike-protein portion of the virus, which as we know is one of the important pieces of the virus, and the mutations are slightly different than some of the previous mutations we’ve seen,” said Dr. Lucas Castellani, who is an infectious diseases specialist at Sault Area Hospital. “That said, what we don’t know is what all of this means.”

Where did it come from?

The Lambda variant was first identified in Peru last year, according to the Canadian Press. Lambda was initially discovered in August 2020 and was subsequently identified as a variant of interest in mid-June. Lambda has mainly been found in South America and is becoming the dominant variant there.

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By June 24, data from Public Health England indicated Lambda had been detected in 26 countries, according to CNBC, including Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, the U.S., Canada, Germany, Spain, Israel, France, the U.K. and others.

The WHO stated in its June 15 report that the Lambda variant has been found in 29 countries and has a more prominent presence in South Africa.

“Authorities in Peru reported that 81% of COVID-19 cases sequenced since April 2021 were associated with Lambda. Argentina reported increasing prevalence of Lambda since the third week of February 2021, and between 2 April and 19 May 2021, the variant accounted for 37% of the COVID-19 cases sequenced,” said the WHO.

How does it compare to other variants?

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Delta is about 50 per cent more transmissible than Alpha and is slowly emerging as the dominant variant in places like Ontario, according to the Canadian Press. Canada-wide there are about 4,654 confirmed Delta cases, an increase from 2,000 on June 18.

“I don’t really know how Lambda will play out in the population that already is occupied, for example, by the Delta variant and you know, the race between them,” Tam said.

The Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Information, has launched eight studies to determine how variants are spreading in Canada. This includes monitoring wastewater for variants in four major cities. The organization also has a project to improve education for the public on what variants are and how they affect the ongoing pandemic.

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The WHO confirmed four variants of concern, Alpha which was first identified in the U.K., Beta which was first identified in South Africa, Gamma which was initially identified in Brazil, and Delta which was identified in India.

Currently, there are four variants of interest that the WHO is monitoring.

How prevalent is Lambda in Canada?

Lambda, the latest COVID-19 variant of interest has been seen in small numbers on Canadian soil, says Tam, but it is too early to determine the impact it may have.

Tam said that to date 11 cases have been reported to Health Canada. The National Institute of Public Health of Quebec said Thursday that it had confirmed 27 cases to date, all occurring in March and April.

Two recently discovered cases of the Lambda variant were discovered in Alberta and linked to travel, reported CBC.

It is not yet clear whether Lambda will replace the other variants currently dominant in Canada, Tam said according to the Canadian Press. Alpha is about 50 per cent more transmissible than the initial virus and is currently nearly 90 per cent of all the 250,000 confirmed variant cases in Canada.