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Patrick Semansky / AP
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, prepares to receive his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.
US health officials believe that the coronavirus mutation that sounded alarms in parts of Britain is no more likely to cause serious illness or be resistant to vaccines than the strain that affects people in the United States. United, but still to be taken “very seriously,” the government said. The leading infectious disease expert said Sunday (NZT on Monday).
Dr. Anthony Fauci backed the decision by US officials to require negative testing for Covid-19 before allowing people from Britain to enter the United States.
He declined to comment on whether that step should have been taken earlier. He said the variant strain is something that “has to be followed very carefully” and “now we are analyzing it very intensively.
He said, “Does it make someone sicker? Is it a more serious virus in the sense of virulence? And the answer is that it does not appear to be the case. “British officials are telling their American colleagues that it appears the vaccines being rolled out will be strong enough to cope with the new variant, but, Fauci said,” we are do the studies ourselves. “
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Fauci said the United States is in a critical phase of the pandemic, with the worst likely still looming. He predicted that the general population would be widely immunized in late March or early April, beyond front-line workers, the elderly, and certain other segments of the public who are prioritized for vaccinations.
Fauci spoke on CNN State of the union.
