Vaccine makers Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax said their vaccines have been less effective against the strain. Variants of the most transmissible strains of the virus from the United Kingdom and Brazil also arrived in the United States, increasing pressure on President Joe Biden’s administration to implement vaccines more quickly.
“State health officials are closely monitoring variant B.1.351 of SARS-CoV-2 in the state,” said Hogan in the statement. “We strongly encourage Marylanders to exercise extra caution to limit the additional risk of transmission associated with this variant. Continue to practice standard public health and safety measures, including wearing a mask, regular hand washing and physical distance. “
The Biden administration is trying to accelerate genetic sequencing efforts to identify new variants and is emphasizing public health guidelines for wearing masks and limiting collection. President Joe Biden announced travel ban from South Africa, Brazil, the United Kingdom and other European nations.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted that the UK strain will become dominant in the US as early as March. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, also said that the UK variant it’s probably more deadly. Several cases of the UK variant have been confirmed in the USA
Moderna announced Monday that it will make a firing shot for your vaccine to help you be more effective against variants. Research has shown whereas, while the UK variant does not appear to reduce the production of antibodies to the vaccine, the South African variant reduces the production of neutralizing antibodies by six times.
“There are alternative plans if we ever have to modify the vaccine,” Fauci told a news conference at the White House last week.