The highly contagious variant that first emerged in the UK has now spread to all 50 countries – as experts warn that there are not enough vaccines available to prevent it from causing a resurgence in some cases.
More than 15,000 cases have already been detected in the US of the B117 variant, which is believed to be more transmissible and deadly than previous versions, reports CNN.
“It looks like America is done with the pandemic. The virus is not done with us, ”said Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Research and Infectious Diseases at the University of Minnesota.
Although vaccines are effective against the variant, they are not rolled out fast enough to prevent them from spreading.
“We are not going to have enough vaccines over the next six to ten weeks, as we are going, in the arms of enough Americans with this boom that we are going to stop it,” Osterholm said. “It’s just not going to happen.”
Osterholm said vaccination efforts should focus on getting as many first doses to Americans as possible.
“At the moment with the boom that is going to take place soon, that is what we want to do at the moment to protect as many people as possible so that they do not get serious illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths,” Osterholm said.
But dr. Anthony Fauci warned of delaying the second doses to give as many shots in the arms as possible.
“You’re in a difficult area if you do not have the full impact,” said the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, saying he had not received full vaccine treatment.
‘There is therefore merit to the arguments put forward. But at the moment, we are getting closer and closer to where we want to be, given the amount of vaccines we can give every day, literally every day that passes. ‘
