You must read Dr Fauci’s ominous warning about the novel coronavirus – BGR

• More contagious strains of COVID-19 from the UK and South Africa are already spreading to dozens of US states.
• The new strains threaten to hinder what has been huge progress in the battle to reduce the rate of coronavirus infection.
• New COVID-19 infections have declined significantly in recent weeks and have fallen 43% in the past two weeks alone.

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Over the past 12 months, the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked unprecedented devastation in the United States. To date, the United States has recorded nearly 28 million coronavirus infections and more than 490,000 COVID-related deaths.

The good news, however, is that we are finally starting to see marked progress in efforts to defeat the coronavirus once and for all. For starters, the COVID infection rate has dropped 43% in the past two weeks alone. In fact, the COVID infection rate is now about as low as it was in October. Additionally, coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths have both fallen by more than 30% in the past two weeks.

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Beyond that, the COVID vaccination effort – after a slow start – is currently advancing faster than many health experts had predicted. While the original goal was to deliver 1 million doses of vaccine each day, the United States now receives an average of 1.6 million doses of vaccine per day. Consider this: From last Thursday to Sunday, an average of 1.9 doses of vaccine were given each day.

All in all, there is finally reason to be optimistic that the coronavirus pandemic will be nothing more than a distant memory at this time of next year. Still, it’s important to remember that we’re not out of the woods yet. Despite an encouraging drop in the infection rate and a promising vaccination effort, the new strains of COVID from the UK and South Africa are of concern to many health experts.

As you’ve probably heard by now, the new strains of COVID from the UK and South Africa are 50% more contagious than the original strain because they are believed to cause longer periods of infection. .

A recent Harvard study notes:

These data demonstrate that the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 can cause longer infections with a similar peak viral concentration compared to non-B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2, and this prolonged duration may contribute to B.1.1 .7 Increased transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2. The conclusions are preliminary, as they are based on seven cases B.1.1.7. However, if confirmed by additional data, an isolation period longer than the currently recommended 10 days after symptom onset may be required to effectively stop secondary infections with this variant.

Both strains are already in the United States and some experts believe the British strain could become dominant as early as next month.

Even more problematic, the South African strain is a bit more resistant to existing COVID-19 vaccines. There is also speculation that both strains are deadlier than the original.

In light of the above, Dr Fauci cautions people should always follow existing coronavirus safety guidelines, as the new strains have the potential to cause massive outbreaks.

“The number of cases is declining on a rather steep downward trajectory right now,” Fauci said. “It can change and go in the wrong direction if we have a predominance of a virus that has a better degree of transmissibility. This variant of the situation somewhat dominates the picture. “

At this point, there is almost a race to vaccinate as many Americans as possible before the more contagious COVID-19 strains become dominant. Of course, the vaccination effort itself is hampered by two variables: a limited vaccine supply and a general distrust of the COVID-19 vaccine itself.

At this point, Fauci said:

But when you have some degree of reluctance to vaccinate in the general community – people who refuse vaccination or who are skeptical or hesitant – we have no effective mechanism to get the general public vaccinated. You can do this in schools or hospitals. Elsewhere it is really a problem.

To achieve herd immunity, it is estimated that 75 to 80% of the country will need to be vaccinated, or around 260 million people. To date, nearly 41 million Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, meaning it may take a few more months to achieve herd immunity.

The good news is that Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot COVID-19 vaccine could receive emergency use clearance from the FDA later this month. If that happens, the supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses in the United States would increase dramatically and help speed up the vaccination effort.