There is no ‘hard evidence’ that a new coronavirus variant found in the UK is more transmissible or more contagious, a top Operation Warp Speed official said Monday.
Moncef Slaoui, chief science adviser for the initiative, told reporters that final laboratory studies of the new variant will take at least several weeks.
“I don’t think there is any hard scientific evidence that this virus is actually more transmissible,” said Slaoui.
Slaoui added that while there is “clear evidence” that there is more of the new variant in the population, it is not clear whether that is because it is more transmissible, or because scientists are now just looking for it, while they that were not before.
“Maybe the seeding was done in the shade and now we see a wave,” Slaoui said.
He acknowledged that it “maybe” has a higher transmissibility, but “what’s clear, it’s no longer pathogenic.”
“The main point is that there is no evidence that this virus is pathogenic, causing more problems and more morbidity or mortality than the previous virus,” said Slaoui.
Slaoui’s comments come as officials in the UK and Europe tighten travel restrictions in response to a new strain of the virus, essentially cutting Britain off from the rest of the region.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo
Andrew CuomoBirx traveled over Thanksgiving weekend after warning Americans to limit celebrations to households. NYC advance bill to protect fast food workers from dismissal for no valid reason. The deal includes smaller incentive checks, support for unemployment benefits | Biden, Powell praises the progress towards MORE agreement (D) and Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio
Bill de Blasio Vaccination Is Not The Complete Answer To COVID-19 Investigation In New York City Finds NYPD Using Excessive Force During George Floyd Protests NYC Enters Bill To Protect Fast Food Workers From Being Dismissed For No Valid Reason MORE (D) have both called on the federal government to also ban travel from the UK.
The restrictions come even after the European Union medicines authority approves Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine, allowing it to be distributed to all member states.
Health experts are confident the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna will still be effective against the new strain.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that the new variant is up to 70 percent more contagious than other species, but the estimate was based on projections and models only, and has not been confirmed in a laboratory.
Slaoui said demonstrating improved transmissibility of the virus would take several weeks of animal testing.
Federal officials, including Anthony Fauci
Anthony Fauci Travel Industry Prepares for Disappointing Christmas Fauci Urges People to Wear Masks Even When Family Members Get Vaccinated Fauci Tells Kids ‘I Vaccinated Santa myself’ MORE, have said it is worthwhile to monitor the situation, but have warned against exaggerate.