(Newser)
– The COVID-19 variant that causes “chaos” in the United Kingdom “is already in the United States,” former FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb. More than 40 countries have enacted bans on traveling to and from the UK over a period of time, but at the moment, Gottlieb doesn’t think it would make much difference if the US followed suit. “We will have an epidemic that will continue to grow over the next three or four weeks, we will reach a high point, and then we will start to see infection rates decrease as we see vaccines develop,” he said of the mutated strain. Dr. Anthony Fauci made similar comments on Monday telling PBS, “You have to make that assumption” that the variant is already here.
Although it is said to be up to 50% more transmissible, so far there is no evidence that the variant is more lethal or that it would respond differently to vaccines. Both Pfizer and Moderna are testing their vaccines against it, CNN reports. “As the virus continues to spread around the world, we will begin to see more of these variants, which is why it’s important to vaccinate the population and eliminate these infections,” said Gottlieb, who noted that most likely it is that vaccines must adapt over time as the virus continues to evolve. Some political leaders have called on the Trump administration to stop travel from the United Kingdom, but USA Today according to U.S. health officials, there is no reason to do so. New York has reached an agreement with at least one airline to require passengers to give a negative test for the virus before boarding a UK plane in the United States. (Read more coronavirus stories.)