WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is closely watching the more contagious variant of COVID-19 after British officials warned it could also be more deadly, two US top health officials said Saturday, warning that more data is needed.
Officials are more concerned about a separate variant from South Africa, although it has not yet been identified among US cases of the novel coronavirus, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Francis Collins and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top COVID from President Joe Biden. 19 medical adviser, also said.
Collins noted that the data from the UK was preliminary, saying it was unclear why those with the UK variant were at higher risk of death, either from changes in the virus itself or from other external causes, such as pressure on the healthcare system.
“Let’s take this as something to keep a close eye on,” he told MSNBC in an interview.
Fauci separately told MSNBC that he needed to see the raw data from the UK before fully assessing the risk of death, and that US officials were weighing how the two new strains might affect the vaccine’s efficacy.
“These are serious situations that we monitor closely and will adapt to them if necessary,” said Fauci. Adding vaccines can be changed if necessary in the coming months.
Their comments come as Democratic President Joe Biden takes charge of the country’s COVID-19 response, trying to revive the fight against the highly contagious disease and instigate a bellicose stance. In a wave of actions since taking office Wednesday, Biden unveiled a new US strategic plan to contain the outbreak and signed numerous executive orders to boost vaccines and increase the use of masks, among other measures.
The United States is the country hardest hit by COVID-19, with 24.70 million cases and 413,775 dead by midnight on Friday. In the past week, an average of 3,089 Americans have died from the disease, while 20 US states reported a record number of deaths this month.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Friday that the British variant was linked to a higher death rate.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned last week that the UK variant, already in circulation in at least 10 US states, could become the dominant variant in the United States by March. The variant, known as B.1.1.7, is believed to be twice as contagious as the current one circulating across the country.
“We’re not worried about that right now,” said Collins, as vaccines were still effective against it. “We are a bit more concerned about a South African variant.”
Fauci, America’s top infectious disease expert, reiterated his concerns, calling the data on the South African variant a little more “ominous,” even though current vaccines still seemed to protect against both variants.
Scientists said on Wednesday that the South African variant may reduce the effectiveness of current vaccines, which also increases the risk of reinfection.
Britain has banned travelers from some African countries in an effort to stop the spread of that species in the UK and is considering further restrictions.
Biden has switched to enforcing a mandatory quarantine for air passengers arriving in the United States, although details have not yet been released. He also demands that passengers going to the US undergo a negative COVID-19 test on Tuesday.
Even without a greater risk of death, more contagious variants increase pressure on officials to vaccinate the population – a campaign that many state and local officials said was slow and chaotic and one that Biden promised to improve.
‘If you get more cases, you will have more hospitalizations. And if you get more hospitalizations, you’ll end up with more deaths, ”Fauci told reporters at the White House on Thursday.
Reporting by Susan Heavey and Anurag Maan, edited by Franklin Paul and Diane Craft