MURRAY: If coronavirus variants now spreading across the United States become dominant strains, health experts fear the potential for a spring wave.
That is why the speed of the vaccine campaign and public health protection measures are so important.
On January 15, the Utah Department of Health confirmed the first case of COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 in Utah, known as the “United Kingdom variant,” by continuous genetic sequencing of COVID-19 samples. positive.
According to Dr. Eddie Stenehjem, an infectious disease physician at Intermountain Healthcare, Utahns must maintain personal protective measures until the vaccine has an impact.
“From an epidemiology standpoint, we are going in the right direction and we need to make sure we continue to do what we are doing,” Stenehjem said.
While Utah’s critical COVID-19 numbers are currently heading in the right direction, Stenehjem said the variants could change that.
“It’s certainly a concern of ours to really control this current situation with viral variants,” he said. “It just emphasizes the fact that we need to get vaccines because it looks like vaccines are protective against these variants.”
It’s a race to get vaccines out faster than variants can be spread.
Right now we’re on a good path, as long as people continue to mask themselves, limit their contacts and not get together in large groups.
–Dr. Eddie Stenehjem, an infectious disease physician at Intermountain Healthcare
An updated COVID-19 forecast from the University of Washington Health Measurement and Assessment Institute, which includes the highly transmissible variants, shows the potential for an additional 25,000 deaths over the next three months. Investigators project a total of 160,000 more deaths before May 1.
The UK strain has now been detected in 33 states, including Utah.
“If it was a predominant mode of infection here in Utah, I think we would know at this point by the amount they sequence,” Stenehjem said.
While state health officials continue to track strains, Stenehjem said we need to be protected.
“Right now we’re on a good path, as long as people continue to mask themselves, limit their contacts and not get together in large groups,” he said.
If Utah can eliminate vaccines quickly, he said, and protect more of our communities, we can care less about strains.
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Jed Boal