BALTIMORE (AP) — President Joe Biden plans to take executive action Friday to provide a stopgap measure of financial relief to millions of Americans while Congress begins to consider his much larger $1.9 trillion package to help those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The two executive orders that Biden is to sign would increase food aid, protect job seekers on unemployment and clear a path for federal workers and contractors to get a $15 hourly minimum wage. “The American people cannot afford to wait,” said Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council. “So many are hanging by a thread. They need help, and we’re committed to doing everything we can to provide that help as quickly as possible.” Deese emphasized that the orders are not substitutes for the additional stimulus that Biden says is needed beyond the $4 trillion in aid that has already been approved, including $900 billion this past December. Several Republican lawmakers have voiced opposition to provisions in Biden’s plan for direct payments to individuals, state and local government aid and a $15 hourly minimum wage nationwide. Most economists believe the United States can rebound with strength once people are vaccinated from the coronavirus, but the situation is still dire as the disease has closed businesses and schools. Nearly 10 million jobs have been lost since last February, and nearly 30 million households lack secure access to food. One of Biden’s orders asks the Agriculture Department to consider adjusting the rules for food assistance, so that the government could be obligated to provide more money to the hungry. Children who are unable to get school meals because of remote learning could receive a 15% increase in food aid, according to a fact sheet provided by the White House. The lowest-income households could qualify for the emergency benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. And the formula for calculating meal costs could become more generous. The order also tries to make it easier for people to claim direct payments from prior aid packages and other benefits. In addition, it would create a guarantee that workers could still collect unemployment benefits if they refuse to take a job that could jeopardize their health. Biden’s second executive order would restore union bargaining rights revoked by the Trump administration, protect the civil service system and promote a $15 hourly minimum wage for all federal workers. The Democratic president also plans to start a 100-day process for the federal government to require its contractors to pay at least $15 an hour and provide emergency paid leave to workers, which could put pressure on other private employers to boost their wages and benefits. These orders arrive as the Biden White House has declined to provide a timeline for getting its proposed relief package through, saying that officials are beginning to schedule meetings with lawmakers to discuss the proposal. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a Thursday briefing that the proposal has support ranging from democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But not all components of the package are popular among Republicans, and that could delay passage in ways that could injure the economy. Psaki stressed that Biden wants any deal to be bipartisan and that the process of meeting with lawmakers to talk through the plan is just beginning. Biden must balance the need for immediate aid against the risk of prolonged negotiations. Psaki told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday that Biden is “not going to take tools off the table” as he looks to bring Republicans to the table, and she argued that the back-and-forth is “exactly how it should work.” “We’ll figure out what the sausage looks like when it comes out of the machine,” she said. Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the Chamber, told reporters Thursday that Congress should act fast to approve the roughly $400 billion for national vaccination and reopening schools and other elements of the plan with bipartisan support, rather than drag out negotiations. “We’re not going to let areas of disagreement prevent progress on areas where we can find common ground,” Bradley said. “We cannot afford six months to get the vaccination process working right. … We can’t even wait six weeks to get vaccinations distributed and schools reopened.”
Biden Team Sees Virus Vow at Risk on New Strain, Vaccine Stumble
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden’s team is increasingly worried the coronavirus pandemic is spiraling out of control — imperiling his promise to contain the outbreak — as cases and deaths mount, vaccinations lag and a more-transmissible strain emerges in the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter. As they learned more about the federal response to the pandemic, Biden’s transition team grew alarmed at a lack of coordination with states, the people said. Biden himself has warned of a “dark winter” and has flatly said the pandemic will worsen before it improves.
The stakes are escalating. U.S. hospitalizations are at near-record levels, and daily cases and deaths have doubled since Election Day on Nov. 3. While blame has fallen on the Trump administration for its failure to develop a national testing or vaccination strategy or encourage widespread mask-wearing, Biden’s team — which keeps adding new experts — now inherits the job of containing the pandemic. Nick Bit: I wish it was as easy as they think. It will take a ugly mask with the properfilter and strict isolation as in total lock down.
On Thursday, Biden will sign executive actions to “move aggressively to change the course of the Covid-19 crisis and safely re-open schools and businesses, including by taking action to mitigate spread through expanding testing, protecting workers, and establishing clear public health standards,” according to a memo by Ron Klain, the White House chief of staff. After taking office on Wednesday, one of Biden’s first acts was expected to be an order requiring face masks on federal property.
The most alarming developments have come over the past month. Some Biden advisers, who asked not to be identified discussing internal conversations, said it isn’t vaccine logistics that worry them most, but the new strain of the virus, which is more contagious.
The U.S. already has a perilously high baseline caseload — about 230,000 new infections a day, of late — that could quickly become unmanageable as the mutant strain takes hold. “This administration is inheriting such a horrible problem, not of their making,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and a member of the coronavirus advisory board for Biden’s transition. “This is a perfect storm.” Biden has staked much of his early presidency on achievements in his first 100 days, including a pledge to administer 100 million doses of vaccine and a challenge to Americans to routinely wear masks. His team hopes to vastly increase testing and push to reopen schools, trying to both do more to fight the virus and return Americans to a more normal daily life.
Variant might partially evade protection from vaccines or prior infection, early research suggests
(CNN)A new study suggests someone might be able to get infected with one of the new variants of the coronavirus even if they’ve had Covid-19 before or have been vaccinated. The variant was first spotted in South Africa in October and has now been found in more than a dozen countries.
“I think we should be alarmed,” said Penny Moore, associate professor at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa and the senior author of the study.
“Based on Penny’s data, it’s likely that the vaccine is going to be somewhat less effective, but how much less effective we don’t know,” said David Montefiori, a virologist at Duke University Medical Center. Montefiori added that this is the first study that gives him serious doubt about whether prior infection or a vaccine will protect against a new coronavirus variant. “This is the first time I’ve been concerned about a variant partially evading the immune response and partially evading the vaccine,” he said. Both experts emphasized that people should still get the vaccine. It’s extremely effective against other forms of the virus and they think it likely will still give some level of protection against the new variant as well. The study was posted on a pre-print server and has not been peer-reviewed and published in a medical journal. This is one of the first reports to look at the variant’s effect on antibody potency. Labs around the world are furiously studying the issue and expect to report results within the next few weeks.
“I worry desperately in the next six to 12 weeks we’re going to see a situation with this pandemic unlike anything we’ve seen yet to date. And that is really a challenge that I don’t think most people realize yet,” Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota and a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s Transition Covid-19 Advisory Board, told CNN’s New Day.
‘In the study, Moore and her colleagues took blood from 44 people who’d had Covid-19. Nearly all of their cases were confirmed to have occurred prior to September, which is before the variant was spotted in South Africa. The researchers then looked to see whether their antibodies would fight off the new variant. For about half of the 44 people, their antibodies were powerless against the new variant. “We saw a knockout,” Moore said. “It was a scary result.” For the other half, the antibody response was weakened, but not totally knocked out. The analysis showed that the strongest antibody response was from those who had suffered more severe cases of Covid-19, and therefore had developed a stronger antibody response after their illnesses. The culprits were mutations in two different parts of the spikes that sit atop the coronavirus. The vaccines work by targeting those spikes. “It was a two-armed escape from the immune system,” Moore said. Moore emphasized that these are results in the lab, and studies need to be done to see if people who’ve previously had Covid-19 get re-infected with the new variant. The antibody assays did not measure other immune responses, such as T-cell responses, that are generated by previous infections and vaccines. Moore’s team is now gathering blood from people who’ve been vaccinated to see if their antibodies can fight off the new variant. “I think the data on people with prior infection raises all kinds of red flags for the vaccines,” she said. “We have to test it to find out.” Montefiori, the Duke virologist, agrees. “I don’t have any reason to think the results with people who’ve been vaccinated will be any different than with the people who had prior infection,” For several reasons, Montefiori thinks the vaccine will likely take a hit — but probably not a huge one.First, the two vaccines authorized for use in the US work very well, so even if the new variant puts up a fight, the reduction in vaccine efficacy likely won’t be devastating. “We have to remember, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are 95% effective — that’s an extraordinary level of efficacy,” Montefiori said. “If it reduces to 90, 80, 70% effective, that is still very, very good and likely to have a major impact on the pandemic.” Also, while surveillance in South Africa shows the new variant is becoming the dominant variant in the country, Montefiori points out that it’s been found only in small numbers in 13 other countries. The UK, which has a very aggressive surveillance system, has found 45 people with the new variant, according to GISAID, an independent data-sharing initiative. Botswana has seen six cases; Japan has seen five; there have been four cases spotted in Germany; two each in France, Australia, Switzerland and Finland; and one each in Sweden, South Korea, Norway, Ireland, and the Netherlands. Also, getting vaccinated might trigger a stronger antibody response than infection. Monday, researchers at Sheba Medical Center in Israel announced that an analysis of blood from 102 hospital employees who’d received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine showed their mean antibody levels were higher than those found in people who’d recovered from severe Covid-19. That study has not been peer reviewed, published or posted online. “That’s very good news,” Moore said While scientists work out what effect the variant might have on the vaccine, experts advise that prevention, such as wearing a mask and social distancing, is the best course for bringing Covid-19 rates down — that and and getting a vaccine when you can.
Israeli Covid czar says first Pfizer jab not as effective as hoped and blames spike in cases on British strain
Israel’s coronavirus czar has warned that the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine offers less protection than expected, as he blamed the country’s surge in Covid cases partly on the new British variant. Nachman Ash said many Israelis had caught Covid in between their first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine, suggesting that the first jab is “less effective than we thought,” according to Army Radio. His remarks underline the importance of receiving a second vaccine dose, which according to recent studies is more than 90 per cent effective in protecting against coronavirus. Israel has already given the first of two jabs to nearly 30 per cent of the population and on Tuesday announced it would extend eligibility to those aged 40 and over. But Mr Ash is said to have warned at a cabinet meeting that a new strain of Covid originating in Britain was hampering efforts to tackle the pandemic, as it was responsible for nearly 40 per cent of new cases. It comes after two studies by Israeli healthcare providers found that the first dose of the vaccine reduced the risk of infection by between 30 and 60 per cent. And according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, a survey by the health ministry found that around six per cent of 189,000 citizens who had received the first jab tested positive for Covid within two weeks. It also stated that 69 people from the sample had tested positive for coronavirus after receiving their second dose of the vaccine. Another study of a hundred people in Israel found that 98 per cent were protected from the disease once the second dose was administered. That research, carried out by the Sheba Medical Center, also said that a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine significantly refused the risk of spreading the virus to others.
In Britain, there is a gap of up to 12 weeks between receiving the first and second dose, whereas the WHO recommends the second dose of Pfizer is administered within 21-28 days. Israeli health experts have stressed that it is too early to draw any concrete conclusions from the data. This week, Israel published a partially redacted copy of a deal with Pfizer which has secured a steady supply of vaccines in return for the country sharing its medical data. Under the terms of that deal, Israel is expected to provide weekly updates on the number of vaccinations carried out with a breakdown by age and gender, as well as some demographic details. It is hoped that the data will help other countries plan their own inoculation strategies and provide some of the first conclusions on the effectiveness of the vaccines. Though the deal with Pfizer says patients cannot be identified by the data, there are some concerns in Israel that it could breach privacy rules. Israel hopes to have vaccinated most of the population by the end of March, though officials say they are in a race against the country’s third wave of coronavirus. The country is currently in lockdown and on Monday reported a record daily infection rate of 10,000 cases, the highest rate in Israel since the start of the pandemic.
Yellen: Will work overtime for second relief package
WASHINGTON — (AP) — Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden’s choice as Treasury secretary, said Tuesday that the incoming administration would focus on winning quick passage of its $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan, rejecting Republican arguments that the measure is too big given the size of U.S. budget deficits. “More must be done,” Yellen told the Senate Finance Committee during her confirmation hearing. “Without further action, we risk a longer, more painful recession now — and long-term scarring of the economy later.” Democrats voiced support for the Biden proposal while Republicans questioned spending nearly $2 trillion more on top of nearly $3 trillion that Congress passed in various packages last year.Republicans questioned elements of the Biden proposal such as providing an additional $1,400 stimulus check to individuals earning less than $75,000. They also objected to the inclusion of such long-term Democratic goals as boosting the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said that the push for a higher minimum wage comes at a time when thousands of small businesses like restaurants have gone out of business, and that it would lead to more job losses. Yellen said, however, that the increase in the minimum wage would help millions of frontline American workers who are risking their lives to keep their communities functioning and often working two jobs to put food on the table. “They are struggling to get by and raising the minimum wage would help these workers,” she said. Despite policy differences, Yellen, who would be the first woman to be Treasury secretary after being the first woman to be chair of the Federal Reserve, is expected to win quick Senate confirmation. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, who will become chairman when Democrats take over the Senate, said it was his hope that Yellen could be confirmed by the full Senate as soon as Thursday. Biden last week unveiled a $1.9 trillion relief plan that would provide more aid to American families and businesses and more support for vaccine production and distribution as well as providing support for states and localities to avoid layoffs of teachers and first responders. Many Republicans raised the soaring budget deficits as a reason to be cautious in passing further relief. Last year, the budget deficit climbed to a record $3.1 trillion. Yellen said that she and Biden were aware of the country’s rising debt burden but felt fighting the pandemic-recession was more important currently.
“Right now, with interest rates at historic lows, the smartest thing we can do is act big,” she said. “In the long run, I believe the benefits will far outweigh the costs, especially if we care about helping people who have been struggling for a very long time.”
Yellen was nominated to be chair of the Fed by Barack Obama and she stepped down in February 2018 after President Donald Trump decided not to nominate her for a second four-year term. Since leaving the Fed, Yellen has been a distinguished researcher at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. Yellen’s Treasury nomination was supported in a letter from eight previous Treasury secretaries serving both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Trump lifts COVID travel restrictions from EU, UK, Ireland and Brazil
- Sources had told Reuters Donald Trump planned to rescind travel bans for most non-U.S. citizens recently in Brazil and much of Europe starting on January 26
- But Biden’s team then said ‘we plan to strengthen public health measures’
- The U.S. restrictions barring most visitors from Europe have been in place since mid-March, while the Brazilian entry ban was imposed in May
- The Trump administration imposed the bans in a bid to contain COVID-19
- Nearly all air travelers will be required to present a negative coronavirus test or proof of recovery from COVID-19 to enter the US starting on January 26
Joe Biden’s team on Monday quashed Donald Trump’s plan to lift the travel ban on visitors from the UK, Brazil and Europe, instead announcing they will strengthen border controls. Officials had told Reuters the outgoing president, set to leave office Wednesday, had planned to remove the current restrictions starting on January 26. In an order Trump wrote ‘this action is the best way to continue protecting Americans from COVID-19 while enabling travel to resume safely’. But just 90 minutes later the president elect’s press secretary Jen Psaki had tweeted: ‘With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel. ‘On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26. In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19.’ The current restrictions bar nearly all non-U.S. citizens who have been in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the 26 countries of the Schengen area in Europe that allow travel across open borders within the last 14 days.Restrictions on travelers from Europe have been in place since mid-March; the Brazilian entry ban was imposed in May. The Trump administration imposed the bans in a bid to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Under Trump’s plan the restrictions had been set to end the same day that new COVID-19 test requirements take effect requiring all international visitors to have a negative result. It was first reported in November that the administration had been considering lifting the restrictions, imposed early last year in response to the pandemic, after winning support from coronavirus task force members and public health officials. But new coronavirus variants have been found in both the UK and Brazil in recent weeks. The UK’s strain, B 1.1.7., has resulted in the country being forced back into strict lockdowns. The CDC has already warned it could become dominant in the US by March, triggering massive surges in cases. Joe Biden’s team on Monday quashed Donald Trump’s plan to lift travel ban on visitors from the UK, Brazil and Europe, instead announcing they will strengthen border restrictions Officials had told Reuters the outgoing president, set to leave office Wednesday, had planned to remove restrictions starting on January 26. But just 90 minutes later the president elect’s press secretary Jen Psaki had tweeted.
Norway advises caution in use of Pfizer vaccine for the most frail
Number of elderly people who died shortly after receiving the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in Norway has risen to 29, Bloomberg reported.
The number of elderly people who died shortly after receiving the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in Norway has risen to 29, Bloomberg reported. The latest figures add six to the number of known fatalities in the Scandinavian country and lower the age group thought to be affected to 75 from 80. It is worth noting that until Friday, the vaccine produce by Pfizer-BioNTech was the only one available in Norway and the officials had given the first dose to nearly 42,000 people. The Norwegian Medicines Agency told Bloomberg that all deaths are “linked to the vaccine”. The agency said that 13 deaths have been assessed and the officials are aware of another 16 that currently being assessed. All the reported deaths are related to “elderly people with serious basic disorders”. The agency further informed that most people have experienced and expected side effects of the vaccine, such as nausea and vomiting, fever and local reactions at the injection site, and worsening of their underlying conditions. Pfizer and BioNTech are working with the Norwegian authorities to investigate the deaths. Acting upon this, the Norwegian officials have adjusted their advice on who gets the COVID-19 vaccine, leaving it up to each doctor to consider who should be vaccinated.
“We are not alarmed by this. It is quite clear that these vaccines have very little risk, with a small exception for the frailest patients,” Steinar Madsen, medical director with the agency, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. “Doctors must now carefully consider who should be vaccinated. Those who are very frail and at the very end of life can be vaccinated after an individual assessment,” he added.Australia says ‘safety is number one priority’
Meanwhile, following the Norwegian report, Australia, which has an agreement for 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, is seeking urgent information on the issue from the producer. Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt on Sunday said that there was no change to the government’s vaccine rollout plans, however, he added that “safety is Australia’s number one priority”. Hunt also vowed to update the public on any details from Norway, where authorities said that could not rule out adverse reactions contributing to deaths in patients with severe underlying disease.
In a televised interview with TGA, Hunt said, “Australians should have confidence that we are being absolutely thorough and have a cautious but highly focused medical regulator who is taking into account all of the evidence from around the world”.
“We’re proceeding with an abundance of caution. So there’s no change in our timeframes at this point. But the medical regulator is completely empowered, completely empowered, to make independent decisions,” he added.
Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine appears effective against mutation in new coronavirus variants: Study
New York: Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine appeared to work against a key mutation in the highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus discovered in the UK and South Africa, according to a laboratory study conducted by the U.S. drugmaker. The not-yet peer-reviewed study by Pfizer and scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch indicated the vaccine was effective in neutralizing virus with the so-called N501Y mutation of the spike protein. The mutation could be responsible for greater transmissibility and there had been concern it could also make the virus escape antibody neutralization elicited by the vaccine, said Phil Dormitzer, one of Pfizer’s top viral vaccine scientists. The study was conducted on blood taken from people who had been given the vaccine. Its findings are limited because it does not look at the full set of mutations found in either of the new variants of the rapidly spreading virus. Dormitzer said it was encouraging that the vaccine appears effective against the mutation, as well as 15 other mutations the company has previously tested against. “So we’ve now tested 16 different mutations, and none of them has really had any significant impact. That’s the good news,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that the 17th won’t,” Dormitzer noted another mutation found in the South African variant, called the E484K mutation, is also concerning. The researchers plan to run similar tests to see if the vaccine is effective against other mutations found in the UK and South African variants and hope to have more data within weeks. Scientists have expressed concern that vaccines being rolled out may not be able to protect against the new variants, particularly the one that emerged in South Africa. Simon Clarke, an associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said this week that while both variants had some new features in common, the one found in South Africa “has a number additional mutations” that included more extensive alterations to the spike protein. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and the one from Moderna Inc, which use synthetic messenger RNA technology, can be quickly tweaked to address new mutations of a virus if necessary. Scientists have suggested the changes could be made in as little as six weeks.
Joe Biden executive orders will reverse Trump on climate, Iran, Covid and more
Joe Biden will sign a series of executive orders in his first days in office, attempting to roll back damage done at home and abroad by Donald Trump, whom the Democrat will replace as president on Wednesday. Biden, 78, has already outlined plans to send an immigration bill and a Covid stimulus and relief package to a newly Democratic-controlled Congress. On Friday he said he would shake up the delivery of vaccines against Covid-19, mired in chaos under Trump. Biden plans to return the US to the Paris climate accords and the Iran nuclear deal, overturn Trump’s travel ban against some Muslim-majority countries, restrict evictions and foreclosures under the pandemic and institute a mask mandate on federal property. In a memo released on Saturday, incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain said: “These actions will change the course of Covid-19, combat climate change, promote racial equity and support other underserved communities, and rebuild our economy in ways that strengthen the backbone of this country: the working men and women who built our nation. “While the policy objectives in these executive actions are bold, I want to be clear: the legal theory behind them is well-founded and represents a restoration of an appropriate, constitutional role for the president.” The memo did not mention rejoining the World Health Organization, previously mentioned as a priority. Klain said subsequent orders would address “equity and support communities of color” and address criminal justice reform, access to healthcare and other priorities. Trump leaves office impeached twice, the second time over an attack on the US Capitol he incited and which left five people dead. The coronavirus pandemic is out of control, the death toll approaching 400,000, the caseload close to 24m. There were nearly 3,300 deaths on Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The economy has cratered, unemployment rising steeply. Biden will enjoy Democratic control of both houses of Congress, if by a slender margin in the House and by Kamala Harris’s casting vote as vice-president in a 50-50 Senate.
CDC warns that new highly contagious COVID-19 variant could fuel huge spikes in US
Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued fresh warnings as the COVID-19 mutation first reported in England makes its rounds in the U.S. while new cases continue to climb to record highs. Published in an online report, CDC research suggests that the U.K. COVID-19 variant, formally known as SARS-CoV-2, B.1.1.7, could potentially lead to a serious increase in new infections due to its increased transmissibility, meaning it is more contagious. Using national genomic surveillance data, which reports instances of the new COVID-19 variant’s appearance, the CDC says transmission can be contained, but will also depend on continued adherence to public health measures like face masks, social distancing and quarantine upon exposure. “Multiple lines of evidence indicate that B.1.1.7 is more efficiently transmitted than are other SARS-CoV-2 variants,” the report reads. It went as far as to warn that the more contagious strain could become more widespread. “The modeled trajectory of this variant in the U.S. exhibits rapid growth in early 2021, becoming the predominant variant in March.” The structural mutations occur at the binding receptors of the COVID-19 spike protein, or the structures on the outside of the cell responsible for attaching to host cells and enabling infection. Researchers note that earlier in the pandemic, other variants of COVID-19, namely the D614G mutation, also increased receptor binding, which resulted in this variant becoming the dominant strain in multiple geographic areas. The broad consensus among public health experts is that the newly approved COVID-19 vaccines will still be effective against new strains like B.1.1.7. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), however, issue a warning that the U.K. variant may lead to false negative results on select reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests, which could lead to upticks in transmission. Given this, the CDC notes that increased vaccination efforts are the best way to slow the spread of the new COVID-19 variant. Using a statistical model to predict the rates of transmission the U.K. COVID-19 strain could inflict, researchers noted vaccination was the most effective way to reduce spread. “The effect of vaccination on reducing transmission in the near term was greatest in the scenario in which transmission was already decreasing,” scientists wrote. “Early efforts that can limit the spread of the B.1.1.7 variant, such as universal and increased compliance with public health mitigation strategies, will allow more time for ongoing vaccination to achieve higher population-level immunity.” While there is no known difference in health outcomes between the distinct COVID-19 variants, Jay Butler, the deputy director for infectious diseases at the CDC, urges Americans to remain cautious when in public. “I want to stress that we are deeply concerned that this strain is more transmissible and can accelerate outbreaks in the U.S. in the coming weeks,” Butler reportedly said. “We’re sounding the alarm and urging people to realize the pandemic is not over and in no way is it time to throw in the towel.” Officials still do not know exactly how far the COVID-19 variant has transmitted across the U.S. About 76 confirmed cases of B.1.1.7 have been reported across 10 U.S. states, but the country is still posting record-high numbers of new infections. As of Jan. 15, the CDC recorded 227,746 new COVID-19 cases and more than 3,900 new fatalities.