The highly contagious variant that first appeared in the UK has now spread to all 50 states – while experts warn that there are not enough vaccines on hand to prevent it from causing another wave of cases.
More than 15,000 cases have already been detected in the US of the B117 variant, which is believed to be more transmissible and more deadly than previous versions, CNN reported.
“America seems to be done with the pandemic. The virus does not infect us, “Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told Michael outlet.
While vaccines are effective against the variant, they are not released fast enough to stop the growth of cases.
“We will not have enough vaccines, as we go, in the arms of some Americans over the next six to 10 weeks, with this growth that we will stop,” Osterholm said. “It just won’t happen.”
Osterholm said vaccination efforts should focus on getting as many first doses in Americans as possible.
“Right now, with the growth that is going to happen, that’s what we want to do now is protect as many people as possible so that they don’t get seriously ill, they don’t go to the hospital and they die,” Osterholm said.
But Dr. Anthony Fauci warned against delaying the second dose to give priority to getting as many shots in the arms as possible.
“You are in a fragile area if you do not have the full impact,” said the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases that he has not received the full vaccination regimen.
“So there are some merits in the arguments that are made. But right now, given the number of vaccines we can administer every day, literally with each passing day, we are getting closer and closer to where we want to be. ”
