The US may lose its edge in the fight against coronavirus. This was stated by the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walenski, reports Fox News.
According to her, the spread of more infectious strains can nullify all the successes of vaccination. They are the ones who pose a danger and are able to provoke the fourth wave of COVID-19 incidence, she said.
Walenski recalled that in the last week of February, 70 thousand cases were detected in the United States, while 2 thousand citizens died. The expert noted that these numbers are “very high”, and because of the new strains, the United States “may completely lose” the progress already made.
The chief infectious disease specialist of the United States, Anthony Fauci, during a briefing at the White House, in turn, called for attention to new strains, including B.1.526 discovered in New York. The specialist pointed out that he has to “be taken very seriously.” Previously, researchers found that one of the mutations in this strain – E484K – helps the virus escape from the immune response and slow down the effectiveness of the vaccine, the second – S477N – creates spike proteins that attach the virus to cells.
On March 2, Fauci revealed the potential dangers of Pfizer and Moderna's strategies to vaccinate people against coronavirus with just one dose of the drug, not two. Prior to this, the infectious disease specialist warned that new mutations of the virus could reduce the effectiveness of vaccinations, but they should still be done.
More than 28.6 million people have been infected in the United States since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, over 2.5 million of those infected have died. The World Health Organization believes that it is premature to talk about the end of the fight against coronavirus by the end of 2021, despite the vaccination that has begun.
