The new, more contagious variant of COVID-19 that emerged in the UK does not appear to be more deadly, said Dr. Vivek Murthy, a nominee for surgeon general on Sunday.
“This news from the UK appears to be about a new strain of the virus that is more transmissible and contagious than the virus we’ve seen before,” Murthy told NBC News ‘Meet the Press.’
“While it appears to be more transmissible, we have no evidence yet that this is a deadlier virus to someone who acquires it.”
The former surgeon general, who has been called upon by President-elect Joe Biden to return to that position, added that the new strain is not muffling the vaccine hoppers.
“There is no reason to believe that the vaccines that have been developed will not be effective against this virus,” said Murthy.
The new species quickly spread throughout South East England and was responsible for more than 60 percent of new infections in London.
Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical leader for COVID-19, said on Sunday that the new species has also made its way across borders.
“We understand that this variant has also been identified in Denmark, in the Netherlands and there was one case in Australia and it did not spread there,” Van Kerkhove told the BBC on Sunday.
She said it is worrying that the new species is “spreading and has so many mutations.”
“The longer this virus spreads, the more chances it has to change. So we really have to do everything we can to prevent it spreading, ”she said.
Certain regions in the South East of England have been placed under stricter lockdowns – and the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy have banned flights from the UK.