WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The highly contagious variant of COVID-19 first discovered in the UK has become the most common strain of the virus in the United States as cases continue to rise, a senior health official said on Wednesday. USA.
The strain, known as B.1.1.7, was identified in Britain last fall and has since been detected in 52 U.S. jurisdictions, the director of the Control Centers told reporters. U.S. Disease Prevention Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters at a White House briefing.
U.S. public health officials have urged Americans to get vaccinated as soon as possible in part to prevent new variants of the new coronavirus from spreading.
The United States has also detected cases of a variant first discovered in South Africa that is thought to be resistant to some COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. The strain was found in 36 U.S. jurisdictions, according to federal data last updated Tuesday.
The United States administers approximately 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine per day on average over the past week, 8% more than the average of the previous seven days, Walensky said.
Vaccine supply has increased significantly in the United States in recent weeks as Johnson & Johnson has begun making millions of doses of its newly licensed traits. Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna have also recently increased their vaccine production capacity.
U.S. President Joe Biden has doubled his target of managed shots in his first 100 days in charge of 100 million to 200 million and has urged states to start shooting all adults in mid-April .
However, daily cases of new coronaviruses in the United States have averaged 63,000 in the past seven days, 2.3 percent more than the average of the previous seven days, Walensky said.
Walensky said the CDC has identified a number of outbreaks of COVID-19 related to youth sporting events and that communities experiencing a high number of cases should avoid holding such events. Tests should also be done twice a week, he said.
White House COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt also told reporters that the U.S. government is expanding its community health center program, which it established in recent weeks to help vaccinate small communities. attended.
(Report by Susan Heavey, Jeff Mason and Carl O’Donnell; edited by Lisa Shumaker)
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