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Fauci said earlier that virus surveillance in the United States is not at the level he would like to see. However, vaccines against the South African strain, as well as the “British” variant of the coronavirus, would still be successful, he said.
The Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the United States and current adviser to US President Joe Biden, Anthony Fauci, warned on Sunday that new data suggested that the COVID-19 strain that first appeared in the UK may be more deadly than the original.
“We need to assume now that what is circulating in the UK has an increase in virulence, that is, the virus’s power to do more damage, including death,” Fauci said in an interview with CBS.
Fauci said British authorities originally claimed that the new version was no longer dangerous, but after a report that showed it was about 30% more deadly in older adults, they have now reversed the course.
Among 60-year-olds in the UK, the average death rate was around 10 per 10,000. But with the most recent strain, in the same population, there were about 13 or 14 fatalities per 10,000.
“We want to analyze the data ourselves, but we have every reason to believe it. They are a very competent group, ”said Fauci.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the UK strain has been confirmed in at least 22 nations.
Fauci said the vaccines available for COVID-19 still appear to be successful against the variant, although he acknowledges that there may be a “very small decrease” in safety. However, he said that when it comes to another new strain first found in South Africa, which appears to be more resistant to the vaccine, it is “a little more worrying”, so health officials and companies may need to strengthen their vaccines in the future.
“It seems that the vaccine’s effectiveness decreases even more, but we are still within that level of damping of the vaccines being advantageous against these mutants,” said Fauci. “That said, let’s look at this and follow very carefully because these things evolve. What we are going to do and are doing is preparing for the possibility that … in the future, we may need to modify and update the vaccines.”
On Friday, the prime minister of the kingdom, Boris Johnson, said the evidence pointed to “a higher degree of mortality” for the new variant, which could reach 30%, although some scientists have questioned such conclusions ahead of time.
The United Kingdom notified the World Health Organization in December of a mutant version of the new coronavirus that is reported to be 70% more transmissible than other strains. Although the most recent strain has not been shown to be more pathogenic, several countries have closed their borders with the UK and suspended travel. However, the closings so far have not prevented the spread from spreading.
The United States is leading the global coronavirus count, with more than 25 million reported infections and more than 418,000 virus-related deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.