The homegrown variant of COVID-19 in New York City can infect people who have already had the virus – or even been vaccinated, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration said Sunday.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb said it remains unclear whether the COVID-19 variant, known as B.1.526, is causing viral spikes in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.
“What we don’t understand with 1,526 is whether people are getting re-infected with it and whether people who may have been vaccinated are now getting infected,” says Gottlieb told CBS anchor Margaret Brennan about “Face the Nation.”
The New York variant contains a mutation similar to South African variant B.1.351, which has been shown to “in certain cases” reinfect people who have already had the bug, Gottlieb said.
‘The question is whether [B.1.526] is responsible for some of the increases we are currently seeing in New York and whether this is the start of a new outbreak in the city, ”he said.
The former Trump administration official said public health experts currently have insufficient data to draw firm conclusions.
He called on the CDC to work with New York officials to identify possible coronavirus re-infections associated with B.1.526, which he warned are “probably more common than what we detect.
“They should aggressively advertise doctors and ask doctors to come forward and report cases when they see situations where people have previously been infected with COVID and may become reinfected,” he said of the federal agency.
“We don’t know this is happening, but anecdotally, some doctors are reporting it now, and that might explain why you’re seeing an increase in the number of cases.”
Gottlieb said the federal government’s vaccination effort should serve as a “backstop” against a new wave of COVID-19 cases – but warned that pushing for cases to be reopened by officials in New York and other states could result. in a “revival” in cases.
“We took our foot off the brakes a little too early. March was always going to be a difficult month. People want to lean forward, but we really should have waited until April, ”he said.
“The fact that we’ve done that now probably means we’re probably going to a plateau, maybe we’re seeing a revival in certain parts of the country.”
COVID-19 variants, including B.1.526, account for more than half of new coronavirus cases in New York City, city health officials said earlier this month.
On Saturday, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office announced the first confirmed case of the Brazilian P.1 variant, which, like the New York variant, may make vaccines less effective.
“While additional research is warranted, researchers at the University of Oxford have recently released non-peer-reviewed data indicating that the P.1 variant may be less resistant to current vaccines than initially thought,” the office said. the governor.