Fauci: Mutant coronavirus strain must be taken 'very seriously'

Source: The Hill | December 28, 2020 | Zack Budryk

Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, on Sunday said people should take the more contagious strain of the coronavirus that has emerged in southeastern England “very seriously.”

Fauci, who has discouraged outright barring flights from the United Kingdom, said in an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” that U.S. officials were right to require proof of negative coronavirus tests for anyone entering the country from Britain.

Public health officials are examining the new strain “very intensively now,” including questions such as, “Does it make someone more ill? Is it more serious virus in the sense of virulence? And the answer is, it doesn’t appear to be that way.”

Fauci added that while their British counterparts have expressed confidence that existing vaccines will be equally effective against the new strain, “we’re going to be doing the studies ourselves,” according to the AP.

“We’re getting isolates of it, making combination of viruses, to be able to directly test, getting sera from people who we have vaccinated, and see if it still neutralizes this new strain, this mutant strain that’s coming from the U.K., as well as from South Africa,” he added. “There’s a similar, but not entirely the same type of mutation that we’re seeing in South Africa.”

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