A new study released by a team of British scientists suggests a coronavirus variant recently discovered in England is 56 percent more contagious than the original strain.
The study, released by the Center for Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, noted that while the data suggests the new variant is more contagious, there are no results showing that it is more deadly, The New York Times reported.
However, researchers warned that the new variant would require stricter measures, including closing universities and schools. They also called for more widespread vaccinations.
“It may be necessary to significantly accelerate vaccine rollout,” they said, according to the Times.
Alessandro Vespignani, director of the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University in Boston, was not involved in the study, but agreed with the findings.
“While we were all excited about the vaccine,” he told the paper, “here is the possibility of a change in the epidemiological context that will make our next few months much more complex and dangerous to navigate.”
“Evidence is piling up that the variant is more transferable, implying that it will likely take even more effort to control its spread,” he added.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced earlier this week that the new strain could already be present in the United States. It also stated that it is in the process of determining how quickly the virus is transmitted.