Impact of Early Pandemic SARS-CoV-2 Lineages Replacement with the Variant of Concern P.1 (Gamma) in Western Bahia, Brazil.

Background: The correct understanding of the epidemiological dynamics of COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2, is essential for formulating public policies of disease containment.

Methods: In this study, we constructed a picture of the epidemiological dynamics of COVID-19 in a Brazilian population of almost 17000 patients in 15 months. We specifically studied the fluctuations of COVID-19 cases and deaths due to COVID-19 over time according to host gender, age, viral load, and genetic variants.