A leading epidemiologist is warning that the coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 first identified in the UK can infect children more easily than previous strains.
“This variant B.1.1.7 is a brand new ball game,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, during an interview on Sunday at NBC’s Meet the press.
Our country is in a historic struggle against Coronavirus. Add America’s change to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of news.
“In fact, right here in Minnesota, we are now seeing the other aspect of this B.1.1.7 variant that has not been talked about much, which is that it infects children very quickly,” he said.
Osterholm said in Minnesota that nearly 750 schools have reported cases of the most contagious variant in the past two weeks. The warning comes when children from around the country return to the classroom after months of learning at home.
“Unlike previous strains of the virus, we did not see children below the eighth grade being infected frequently, or they were often not very sick. They did not broadcast it to the rest of the community. That’s why I was one of those people who strongly supported the reopening of classroom learning. B.1.1.7 turns this upside down. ”
Osterholm said the UK variant is between 50 to 100 percent more infectious than previous strains and can cause more serious illness about 55 percent of the time.
He said the variant is driving the recent increase in cases in the Upper Midwest and Northeast, and the US is just beginning to see the beginning of a fourth wave. Although he applauded the efforts of the Biden government to bring vaccines to millions of people, he said that immunizations were not being launched fast enough to prevent an imminent increase.
Other experts, however, say a resurgence of COVID-19 in the United States could be prevented.
Former Chief of the Food and Drug Administration, Scott Gottlieb, said on Sunday that he does not believe there will be a “real fourth wave” due to the launch of the vaccine.
“I think there is enough immunity in the population that you don’t see a real fourth wave of infection,” Gottlieb told CBS’s Face the Nation.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 19 percent of the total US population was vaccinated and 32 percent received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
READ MORE STORIES FROM CHANGING AMERICA
CORONAVIRUS IS EXPLODING IN MICHIGAN
HAWAII CONSIDERS VACCINE PASSPORTS FOR INTERILED TRIPS
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER A DOSE OF PFIZER OR MODERN VACCINE?
FAUCI SAYS THAT NEW APPEARS IN CASES OF COVID-19 HAS THREE MAIN CAUSES
TRUMP WHITE HOUSE CENSORED HEAD OF ITS OWN CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE, SAYS NEW REPORT