- More contagious COVID-19 species from the UK and South Africa are already spreading across dozens of US states.
- The new strains threaten massive strides in the fight to reduce the coronavirus infection rate.
- New COVID-19 infections have declined significantly in recent weeks, dropping by 43% in the past two weeks alone.
In the past 12 months, the coronavirus pandemic has caused an unprecedented amount of damage in the United States. To date, the US has seen 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 clear progress in the effort 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 about as low today as it was in October. Additionally, coronavirus-related hospital admissions and deaths have decreased by more than 30% in the past two weeks.
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Additionally, after a slow start, the COVID vaccination effort is currently progressing faster than many health experts had predicted. Although the initial goal was to administer 1 million vaccine doses each day, the US today uses an average of 1.6 million vaccine doses per day. Consider this: From Thursday through Sunday, an average of 1.9 doses of vaccines were administered per day.
All things considered, there is finally a reason to be optimistic that the coronavirus pandemic will be nothing more than a distant memory around this time 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, new COVID strains from the UK and South Africa have caused many health experts to worry.
As you’ve probably heard, the new COVID strains from the UK and South Africa are 50% more contagious than the original strain as they are believed to cause longer infection periods.
A recent study from Harvard notes:
These data provide evidence that SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 can cause longer infections with a similar peak viral concentration compared to non-B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2, and this extended duration may contribute to B .1.1. .7 Increased transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2. The findings are preliminary as they are based on seven B.1.1.7 cases. However, if confirmed by additional data, a longer isolation period than the currently recommended 10 days after the onset of symptoms may be required to effectively interrupt secondary infections from this variant.
Both species are already in the US, and some experts think the British species could become dominant as early as next month.
Even more problematic is that the South African strain is somewhat more resistant to existing COVID-19 vaccines. It is also speculated that both species are more deadly than the original.
In light of the above, Dr. Fauci that people should still follow existing coronavirus safety guidelines, as the new strains have the potential to cause massive outbreaks.
“The number of cases is currently declining in a fairly steep downward trajectory,” Fauci said. “That can turn around and go in the wrong direction if we have a predominant virus with a better degree of transmissibility. This variant situation somewhat dominates the picture. “
At this point, there is almost a race of sorts to vaccinate as many Americans as possible before 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 mistrust of the COVID-19 vaccine itself.
So far Fauci said:
But if you have a degree of hesitation in the general community about vaccines – people who deny vaccination or are skeptical or hesitant – we don’t have a good mechanism for getting the general public vaccinated. This can be done in schools or hospitals. Elsewhere, that’s a real problem.
To achieve herd immunity, an estimated 75 to 80% of the country will need to be vaccinated, or about 260 million people. To date, nearly 41 million Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is to say it may take a few more months to achieve herd immunity.
The good news is that Johnson & Johnson’s one-time COVID-19 vaccine could receive an Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA later this month. If that happened, the supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses in the US would increase significantly and the vaccination effort would be accelerated.
A lifelong Mac user and enthusiast, Yoni Heisler has been writing about Apple and the tech industry in general for over six years. His writing has appeared in Edible Apple, Network World, MacLife, Macworld UK and most recently in TUAW. When Yoni isn’t writing about and analyzing the latest happenings with Apple, Yoni enjoys watching Improv shows in Chicago, playing football and cultivating new addiction to TV shows, most recently The Walking Dead and Broad City.