WASHINGTON: US authorities they are examining “very carefully” the variant of the virus that is spreading in the UK, top health officials said on Sunday, indicating that the ban on traveling to the UK was not currently on the cards.
The news came when a group of American experts recommended that those over 75 be the next to be vaccinated against the virus, along with 30 million “front-line essential workers,” including teachers, employees of the store. groceries and police.
Addressing the virus variant, Moncef Slaoui, chief adviser to the government’s Operation Warp Speed vaccination program, told CNN’s “State of the Union” that U.S. officials “still don’t know” if he’s in the country.
“We’re, of course, studying it very carefully,” including the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he said.
At the moment, he said, no strain of the virus appears to be resistant to the virus vaccines available.
“I think this particular variant in the UK is very unlikely to have escaped vaccine immunity,” Slaoui said.
“I don’t think there’s any cause for alarm at this time,” agreed Admiral Brett Giroir, a U.S. official overseeing coronavirus testing, when asked about the new variant of “The Week.” the ABC.
Asked if the United States is likely to follow the example of European countries that have suspended flights from the UK, Giroir replied: “I really don’t think we should do that yet.”
Slaoui told CNN on Monday about eight million more doses of Covid-19 vaccine in the United States, two million from the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine and 5.9 million from the Modern shot that was released on Friday.
Moderna’s first shot was “most likely tomorrow morning,” he said.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control claims that 2.8 million doses of vaccine were distributed last week, while 556,208 doses were administered.
Although Vice President Mike Pence has done so publicly and the President-elect Joe Biden is to do it on Monday, President Donald Trump so far he has not indicated that he will get the vaccine soon.
With vaccine skepticism, Giroir encouraged Trump to do so for his own health – “and also to build more trust among people who follow him so closely.”
More than 316,000 people have been killed by Covid-19 in the United States, with new infections regularly exceeding 200,000 daily and deaths hovering around 3,000 people every 24 hours.
With vaccines on the move, there is light at the end of the tunnel, but Slaoui warned that the situation will “get worse” before it improves, citing an increase after Thanksgiving and the upcoming end-of-year holiday.
Later, an advisory group from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control voted to recommend which groups should be part of the second wave of vaccinations after initial doses focused on front-line health workers and the elderly. residences.
He recommended “essential front-line workers” along with those over 75.
The group estimates that there are about 30 million people in the category of front-line essential workers, ranging from teachers to postal workers, police and firefighters.
According to the recommendations, at a later stage we would see those between the ages of 65 and 74 along with other essential workers among those receiving doses.
Later, the CDC will decide whether to adopt the recommendations, while individual states will finally be able to choose how to distribute their traits.