EAST LANSING— On Tuesday evening, MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. of Michigan State announced the first confirmed case of the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant amongst the MSU community. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services laboratory confirmed the variant being present on the MSU campus Tuesday.

The variant came from the United Kingdom, and early studies suggest that it is more contagious and can lead to more severe symptoms than the original strain of the coronavirus. There are 616 confirmed cases of the variant in Michigan.

Despite multiple strains of the coronavirus being detected throughout Michigan, studies have shown that the recently released COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are still effective against newer strains of the virus. This follows the state’s announcement last week to expand vaccination eligibility to all adults starting April 5. 

Adults 50 and older will be able to sign up for an appointment time starting on March 22. As of March 16, over two million Michiganders (21% of the states total population)  have received at least one shot of the vaccine; over one million citizens (11.93%)  have been fully vaccinated.