Across the US, the total number of coronavirus cases has crossed 21 million. The last week has seen more than 1 million new cases. The number of hospitalizations across the country has not come below 100,000 for more than a month.
Georgia became the fifth state to report a case involving the new coronavirus strain B117. This strain that was first identified in the United Kingdom is spreading in the US at a rapid pace, and five states have so far reported cases involving this new coronavirus variant. The interesting thing is that none of the people infected with this new variant had a travel history in the recent past.
US Cases Cross 21 Million
According to health experts, the new coronavirus variant B117 is more contagious than the original variant even though it is not more deadly than the original strain. Due to this reason, the authorities are taking a lot of precautions as the new variant can lead to a huge surge in the number of coronavirus cases within a short duration of time. The new variant has spread across the United Kingdom within the last two months, and the country has gone for a nationwide lockdown recently in order to control the situation.
The health department in the US is monitoring the transmission of the new variant closely across the world and said that they are taking necessary measures to identify the new strain across the country.
The Governor of Montana said that the mask mandate would be removed after more vulnerable populations are vaccinated in the near future. The Governor said that he himself would continue to wear a mask and encourage others also to use a mask.
Los Angeles County is facing an unusual situation, and health officials are worried that public Healthcare is heading for a collapse in the near future. The situation is so bad that emergency Medical Services Agencies had to issue an order to the paramedic workers to not bring patients who suffered from cardiac arrest when they are having fewer chances of survival.
The new strain of coronavirus is more contagious than the original strain, and this has the potential to trigger a huge health crisis in the US in the coming weeks. The B117 strain has already spread across England, and health authorities in England say that one in every 50 people were infected with covid-19 last week. The situation has gone very bad and out of control within a short duration of time.
The FDA has issued a clarification with regards to the covid-19 vaccines and said that the vaccination program would go as per the initial schedule. Some countries are making changes to the interval between the two doses of vaccines. As there are not enough vaccines available in the market at the moment, some countries that want to vaccinate more people within a short duration of time are looking towards delaying the second dose of vaccine.
The FDA has clearly said that the US is not going to undertake such experiments at this stage, and the vaccines will be given in the proper intervals, as mentioned in the clinical trial data. According to the reports, the Pfizer vaccine will be given 21 days apart, and the Moderna vaccines will be given 28 days apart.
Apart from that, the FDA has also said that both doses are necessary in order to receive enough immunity against the coronavirus. The authorities do not plan to reduce the dosage in the near future. There are some reports that reducing the dosage will help the authorities to vaccinate more people with the available doses. However, the FDA has clarified that they are not willing to undertake such experiments at this stage.