Although vaccines and continued adherence to public health measures – such as wearing a mask, walking away and washing hands – are effective ways to reduce the risk of contracting COVID, Anthony Fauci, MD, COVID Chief Counsel for President Joe Biden, says there is a common misconception about the virus that can put your health at risk. During a press conference by the White House COVID-19 Response Team on February 8, Fauci admitted that no one should count on COVID naturally slowing down in the near future. Read on to find out what Fauci said about how the virus might be changing – and what it means for its future transmissibility. And for more information on the pandemic, President Biden has just provided this grim update from COVID.
When asked whether, as was the case with some other viruses, COVID would likely become less virulent over time, Fauci said there was no reason to believe that would be the case with COVID.
“We certainly have no data indicating that it is turning into a less virulent strain,” said Fauci. “Sometimes, when viruses mutate to spread more efficiently, they become less virulent, but we have no data to indicate that this is, in fact, happening with SARS CoV-2.” And if you want to know how quickly the coronavirus is spreading near you, find out how bad the COVID outbreak is in your state.
While it is highly unlikely that the virus will disappear on its own, Fauci said there is not enough information to say definitively whether the virus is becoming more infectious or not as it spreads across the United States “One by one, whether or not it really is more virulent, we have no indication that this is the case here, “said Fauci. And if you want to play it safe, find out why Dr. Fauci says don’t do it after your first COVID injection.
Although Fauci explained that the original COVID strain remains dominant in the United States, he admitted that new strains of the virus, including B.1.1.7., A strain initially reported in the United Kingdom, are recovering rapidly. On February 7, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that there are 690 cases of the UK variant in the USA in 33 states.
“The immediate concern we have is that we have 1.1.7. In certainly a considerable number of states … The modeling would tell us that it could become dominant in late March,” said Fauci. “This is the worrying news.” And to get the latest news from COVID right in your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
Despite the predictive modeling that has so far shown that new variants of COVID could soon surpass the original strain, Fauci explained that things are not as dire as they seem.
“The vaccines that we are distributing now are quite effective against that [B.1.1.7] variant, “noted Fauci. Although he admitted that vaccines currently available in the U.S. are not as effective in preventing B.1.3.5.1, a variant of the virus first discovered in South Africa, that does not mean a huge increase in new infections is a foregone conclusion.
“Hopefully, we will have the virus under much better control when there is any indication that it could become dominant,” said Fauci. And to learn more about what’s to come, check out COVID can take on this scary turn in the next month, the study’s findings.