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The local variant of COVID-19 in New York City can infect people who have had the virus before – or even who have been vaccinated, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration said on Sunday.
Dr Scott Gottlieb said it was not clear whether the COVID-19 variant, known as B.1.526, was causing viral outbreaks in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.
“What we don’t understand with 1.526 is whether people are re-infected or not and whether people who could have been vaccinated are now infected with it,” Gottlieb told CBS host Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation”.
The New York variant contains a mutation similar to the South African variant B.1.351, which has shown “in some cases” reinfection of people who have previously had the bug, Gottlieb said.
“The question is whether [B.1.526] is responsible for some of the increases we’re seeing in New York right now and whether this is the start of a new epidemic inside the city, ”he said.
The former Trump administration official said public health experts currently lack sufficient data to draw clear conclusions.
He called on the CDC to work with officials in New York to identify potential coronavirus re-infections linked to B.1.526, which, he warned, are “probably more common than what we detect.
“They need to aggressively market to doctors, asking doctors to come forward and report cases when they see situations where people previously infected with COVID may be re-infected,” he said of the report. of the federal agency.
“We don’t know this is happening, but anecdotally some doctors are reporting it now, and that might explain why you are seeing an upsurge in cases.”
Gottlieb said the federal government’s vaccination effort should serve as a “safety net” against another wave of COVID-19 cases – but warned that pressure to reopen business by officials in New York and in d Other states could lead to a “spike” in cases.
“We kind of took our foot off the brake a bit too early. March was always going to be a difficult month. People want to lean forward, but we really should have waited “until April,” he said.
“The fact that we’ve done this now probably means we’re probably going to level off, maybe we’ll see a rise in parts of the country.”
COVID-19 variants, including B.1.526, account for more than half of new coronavirus cases in New York City, city health officials said earlier this month.
On Saturday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office announced the city’s first confirmed case of the Brazilian variant P.1, which, like the New York variant, could make vaccines less effective.
“While further research is warranted, researchers at the University of Oxford recently published unpaired data which indicates that the P.1 variant may be less resistant to current vaccines than previously thought. the origin, “said the governor’s office.
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