The emergence of new coronavirus variants should be a “wake-up call” for the country, Anthony Fauci
Anthony Fauci COVID-19 cases drop, but variants indicate dangers ahead First US cases of South African virus variants reported in South Carolina Said Friday.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a Coronavirus information session in the White House that the various mutations have ‘clinical consequences’ that need to be addressed.
Recent studies by Johnson & Johnson and Novavax have shown some protection in their vaccinations against variants, but the results are much weaker against the B.1.351 strain, which was first discovered in South Africa.
“It’s a wake-up call for all of us,” Fauci said. “We will continue to watch the evolution of mutants, so we … need to be quick to just readily adapt to make versions of the vaccine that are specifically targeted at any mutation traveling at any given time.”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle WalenskyRochelle Walensky The Hill’s Morning Report – Dems Question Hearing; January becomes the deadliest month of the pandemic. The memorandum: Biden faces risks as COVID optimism stops CDC says coronavirus could kill up to 514,000 by 20 February Vaccine research funds have been abused for decades, watchdog MORE said the country is rapidly sharpening its genomic order to better identify the different variants.
However, she said the virus is so widespread that every new case should be treated as if it were a new variant.
“By the time someone has symptoms, gets a test, has a positive result and we get the order, our opportunity to do real-time case control and and and contact detection is largely gone,” Walensky said. “And so I think, and I believe we should treat each case as if it were currently a variant during this pandemic.”
According to Fauci, the goal remains to vaccinate as many people as possible quickly.
“Mutations occur because the virus is, as it were, playing to mutate. If you stop it and stop the replication, viruses cannot change,” Fauci said. “And that’s the reason for continuing to do what we do, namely to strengthen our ability and our implementation to vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible.”