New varieties COVID-19 have caused alarm and concern in the United Kingdom and South Africa, while many people were concerned that the mutations could complicate vaccine efforts that have only recently started.
However, at least one doctor was optimistic that the newly developed injections could also be effective against mutated strains of the virus.
“There is good reason to believe the vaccines will be effective,” said Dr. Uzma Syed on “CBS This Morning: Saturday.”
She continued, “In fact, the manufacturers test them because the vaccine produces immunity in many different ways.”
The mutated virus strain detected in the UK has forced as many as 80 countries to close their borders to the island nation. The United States requires travelers from there to show a negative COVID-19 test before boarding.
Dr. Anthony Fauci was too asked about the new species in an interview with CBSN’s Anne Marie Green Wednesday, and he also downplayed potential concerns.
“This vaccine does not drift … it does not drift like the flu [vaccine] does, ”he said, confident that adjustments would be made as needed.
He added that most viral mutations, such as those normally found in the influenza virus, “have no relevant functional impact.”
Fauci also said that flu was changing at a faster rate than COVID-19 appears, and that the current Pfizer and Moderna vaccines differ from previous inoculations and are likely to resist these mutations.
Dr. Syed, chief of the COVID-19 task force at Good Samaritan Hospital in Long Island, New York, urged Americans to be more concerned about keeping up with COVID-19 health guidelines.
“The most important thing to remember is that the tools we have to combat the transmission of this virus are still effective against this variant, and they include wearing a mask, social distancing and really avoiding indoor gatherings with people. that are outside your household, ”she said.
Syed’s advice comes as post-pandemic travel has reached a new high, with the TSA reporting that more than 7 million people were released on flights from US airports in the week before Christmas.
Syed called the increase in travel coupled with the winter weather, which forced more meetings to be held indoors, “alarming.”
“Our hospitals are already full of patients,” she said. “We want people to know with over 300,000 people who lost their lives, we do everything we can every day to save lives.”
Syed urges those who must travel to quarantine themselves before and after their arrival.
“If you have a negative test just before your trip, you are in fact not free from infection,” she explained. You may be brooding, you may have been exposed on your journey. So it is very wise to stay in quarantine for about two weeks after you have arrived at your destination. ‘