WASHINGTON, Jan 23 (Reuters) – The United States is keeping a close eye on the more infectious variant of COVID-19 after British officials warned it could also be more deadly, the Director of the National Institutes of Health said SA Francis Collins Saturday.
But U.S. health officials are a little more concerned about a South African variant, although that one has yet to be identified among U.S. cases of the novel coronavirus, he told MSNBC in an interview.
Collins noted that the UK data were predictive, and said it was not clear why those with the UK variant had a higher risk of death, whether through changes in the virus itself or causes other externalities such as pressures on the health care system.
“We will take this as something to keep a close eye on,” he said.
Collins’ comments come as Democratic President Joe Biden reverses the country’s COVID-19 response, trying to revive the fight against the infectious disease and urging on a war-like stance. In a series of actions since taking office Wednesday, Biden unveiled a new U.S. strategic plan to curb the uprising and signed several regulatory orders to promote vaccinations and increase mask use, among other measures.
The United States is the country hardest hit by COVID-19, with 24.70 million cases and 413,775 deaths by midnight Friday. Over the past week, an average of 3,089 Americans have died from the disease, with 20 U.S. states reporting higher deaths than this month.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Friday that the UK variant was linked to a higher mortality rate but said vaccines still appeared effective against it.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week warned that the UK variant, which is already circulating in at least 10 U.S. states, could become a major variant in the United States by March . The variant, called B.1.1.7, is believed to be twice as contagious as the current version circulating throughout the United States.
Despite a small difference in the data, Collins said it showed that routine vaccines would still be very protective against the UK variant, so “at this stage we are not afraid of that,” he said. Collins.
“We are more concerned about the diversity of South Africa,” it seems, that there is less protection from vaccines, he said. No known cases, however, have yet been found in the United States, he said.
A scientist said Wednesday that the South African variant could reduce the effectiveness of routine vaccines, which also provide a chance of re-infection.
The United Kingdom has banned travelers from some African countries in an attempt to stop the spread of that snort in Britain and is measuring further restrictions.
Biden has moved to impose mandatory quarantine on air travelers arriving in the United States, although details have not yet been released. It is also urging passengers heading to the U.S. to begin testing the negative COVID-19 test starting Tuesday. (Reporting by Susan Heavey and Anurag Maan, Edited by Franklin Paul)