US officials called for calm and continued caution on Sunday after identifying a new strain of Covid-19 in the UK
Researchers in the UK estimate that the variant could be 70% more transmissible than more established strains. Some of the changes are in the protein spike on the surface of the virus, allowing it to potentially cling more easily and enter human cells. Scientists don’t think it’s more deadly.
The new strain was first detected in England in September and was identified last week. European Centers for Disease Control said on Sunday that several cases of the new strain had been reported in Denmark, the Netherlands and possibly Belgium. A similar mutation has occurred in South Africa, scientists said.
Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser for Operation Warp Speed, the US government’s coronavirus response program, told CNN’s “State of the Union” that health officials do not know if the new strain is already in the United States, but are watching it closely. .
He noted that viruses move frequently and RNA viruses, such as coronavirus, are particularly sensitive to changes. However, the protein cannot move much, so mutations are unlikely to affect the effectiveness of vaccines.
So far, there has not been a single vaccine-resistant variant, Dr. Slaoui said.
Dr. Moncef Slaoui, chief adviser to Operation Warp Speed, said health officials were monitoring the new strain.
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Evan Vucci / Associated Press
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Sunday that the mutation does not mean the virus is more dangerous.
“We don’t even know if it’s really more contagious or not, or if it happened to be a strain that was involved in a super-widespread event,” said Dr. Adams. He told CBS News’ Face the Nation that there was no indication that it would affect people’s vaccination efforts.
Some countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy, have rushed to ban travel from the UK after announcing new closures on Saturday. The top US official overseeing coronavirus testing says he has not issued a quick US ban on traveling with the UK
“I really don’t think we need to do that yet,” Adm said. Brett Giroir on ABC News “This Week.” “I did not see anyone [virus] mutation, but that would make the vaccine elusive. “
The US State Department recommends that travelers reconsider visiting the UK, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends not going there.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, in a call with reporters on Sunday, criticized US health officials for not taking a stronger stance against travel to the UK, saying the US should consider banning flights or , at the very least, require travelers to be tested for the virus. He called it the repeat of spring when flights from China were stopped before flights from Europe.
“Other people ban people coming from the UK; we have six flights a day coming from the UK and we do absolutely nothing, ”said Mr Cuomo, a Democrat. “Today, this variant gets on a plane and lands at JFK. How many times in life do you have to make the same mistake? “
The governor said the possibility that the new virus was already here “kept me awake last night.”
Erica Pan, California’s interim health director, said the state is looking for more information about the new strain, including why British scientists consider it more transmissible, but called the finding a concern.
Dr. Pan said the California Covid-19 genome sequencing tracking system saw no evidence of the British strain there, but if people continue to travel, it could arrive at any time. She said abstaining from travel is important not only to not spread Covid-19, but to keep localized new strains.
“It’s just another point of this virus that continues to keep us all standing,” said Dr. Pan.
Assistant President-elect Joe Biden said his team would receive a briefing on the strain earlier this week. Mr Biden’s public health adviser and his choice for general surgeon Vivek Murthy told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the strain “does not change what we do in terms of precautions”, adding that wearing masks, keeping physical distance and washing hands “are still the pillars of preventing Covid transmission”.
Viruses move constantly as they reproduce and spread. Many variations do not lead to functional changes, although sometimes one or a series of changes can affect the infectivity or severity of a virus.
It is difficult to distinguish whether a specific variant becomes more prevalent only through circumstances or something functional that makes it more virulent, scientists say.
“If it were just a random mutation that was becoming more common, I would rely on epidemiological circumstances,” said Trevor Bedford, an associate professor in the Division of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
But because the new strain has some spike protein changes that could affect its function, “we’re more concerned that something real is happening,” said Dr. Bedford, who is a co-developer of Nextstrain, an open-source project. source that analyzes and tracks the genome of pathogens, including the new coronavirus.
There is currently no evidence that these changes could disable the impact of Covid-19 vaccines that are being released.
A Moderna spokesman said that while the studies continue, his data so far indicate that his vaccine will probably work on the British version.
Pfizer Inc.
and BioNTech SE are monitoring coronavirus mutations and are working to generate data on how well serum samples from people treated with their vaccine are able to neutralize the new strain, a Pfizer spokeswoman said in an email.
—Brianna Abbott contributed to this article.
Write to Ken Thomas at [email protected] and Elizabeth Findell at [email protected]
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