Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned that there is still a ‘very high risk’ of becoming infected with a new variant of COVID-19, even if you have been previously infected, as he urged all Americans to get themselves infected as soon as possible vaccinate.
Fauci, who has been appointed as Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, told a White House press conference that vaccination was more important than ever, given the emergence of new species, particularly those from South Africa, England and Brazil.
On Friday, the first major analysis of the South African tribe showed that being infected earlier did not prevent reinfection with the new variant.
Fauci explained that the troubling news meant that more people needed to be vaccinated in order to reduce the number of people in whom the virus can multiply.
Dr. Anthony Fauci told Wolf Blitzer on Monday that all Americans should be vaccinated soon
President Joe Biden is touring the Walter Reed COVID vaccination site on Friday
“You should get vaccinated if it becomes available nationwide as soon as possible,” he said.
And the reason for that is that viruses cannot mutate if they don’t replicate.
‘And if you stop their replication by vaccinating widely and don’t give the virus an open playing field to continue to respond to the pressure you put on it, you won’t get mutations.’
As of Sunday, 471 cases of variants first identified in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil were located in the United States, of which 467 were the variant found in Britain.
Fauci later told CNN that there was a “very high rate” of reinfection with the new variants, if they became dominant.
If it becomes dominant, the experience of our colleagues in South Africa indicates that even if you are infected with the original virus, there is a very high rate of reinfection to the point where a previous infection does not seem to protect you from reinfection . ,’ he said.
Experts warn that getting people vaccinated is a race against time. Pictured is a team preparing vaccine syringes Friday at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts
Variants can make the vaccine less effective, Fauci said, but that didn’t mean vaccinations were a waste of time.
“Even though there is reduced protection against the variants, there is enough protection to keep you from getting serious illnesses, including hospitalization and deaths,” Fauci said. ‘Vaccination is therefore crucial.’
January was the deadliest month of the entire pandemic in the United States, with more than 95,300 deaths – an average of more than 3,070 deaths per day.
However, the US now appears to be on a slightly more positive trajectory.
Compared to last week, the number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in 38 states has dropped by 10 percent or more, according to The COVID Tracking Project.
1,562 deaths were reported on Monday.
A new order from the CDC requiring people to wear masks while driving any public transport went into effect shortly before midnight on Monday.
People can take off their masks to eat, drink or take medicine; verify their identity with law enforcement or transportation officers; communicate with the hearing impaired; wear an oxygen mask on board an aircraft; or during a medical emergency, the CDC said.
Children under the age of two or people with disabilities who cannot wear a mask are exempt.
According to the CDC, an estimated 26 million people have received at least one dose of their two-dose vaccines, and about six million have been fully vaccinated with both doses.
The US is lagging behind other countries when it comes to vaccinating people – especially Israel, UAE and Great Britain.
According to Our World In Data, Israel vaccinates 1.87 people per 100,000.
The UAE is second with 1.26 and Great Britain is level with Serbia with 0.58.
The United States is in fifth place, with 0.4 inhabitants per 100,000.