WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2021) The Brazil strain of COVID-19 has been confirmed for the first time in the United States just as President Joe Biden's administration is escalating a multipronged effort to contain the disease, including travel restrictions and a vaccine distribution campaign that is now in a high pressure race against an invisible mutating enemy.
The US is by far the global leader in COVID-19 casualties - with more than 25 million cases and more than 420,000 deaths. In recent days, Biden has launched what the administration has called a comprehensive campaign to control COVID-19, which includes acceleration of the vaccine distribution and expanding mitigation measures. However, Biden has also painted a dark near-term forecast, warning that the US death toll will surpass 500,000 by next month.
Although the figures have dropped over the past couple weeks in the wake of a holiday surge, the US COVID-19 death rate remains alarmingly high. And now the emergence of a new threat will likely only raise fears even further that the US will not reverse the tide anytime soon.
On Monday evening, the US state of Minnesota Health Department confirmed in a statement that the first case of the novel coronavirus strain found in Brazil has been transmitted in the United States.
"The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) today announced that its Public Health Laboratory has found the variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus known as the Brazil P.1 variant in a specimen from a Minnesota resident with recent travel history to Brazil," the release said on Monday.
The new strain found in Brazil is more transmissible but it is not yet known if it causes more severe illness, the release said. The release said the individual infected with the Brazil strain became ill the first week of January.
The development comes the very day President Joe Biden signed an order to maintain restrictions on travelers from Europe and Brazil, while adding South Africa to the list.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that the UK-origin B.1.1.7 could become a dominant strain in the United States by March. With respect to the B.1.351 South African strain, the CDC warned that this variant contained a set of additional mutations that may affect its ability to be recognized by antibodies.
Moderna announced on Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine has demonstrated a neutralizing impact on UK and South African variants of the coronavirus. However, US Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said existing vaccines against the coronavirus may need to be upgraded to tackle the UK and South African strains.
BIDEN ESCALATES ANTI-COVID-19 CAMPAIGN
Last week, the Biden administration unveiled a comprehensive COVID-19 strategy that aims to administer 100 million shots in 100 days. In addition to the vaccine, the White House vows to expand mitigation measures such as social distancing, masking, testing, and travel restrictions and promises to roll out an effective plan to safely reopen schools and businesses.
Biden said during a press conference that the United States will be well on its way to herd immunity from the novel coronavirus by this summer. He also sounded even more optimistic about the vaccine strategy.
"I think we may be able to get to... 1.5 million a day rather than 1 million a day," Biden said.
The president clarified that he was referring to the number of daily inoculations since vaccines approved in the United States require two shots per person with an interval of a couple of weeks.
Earlier, at the first day of the Davos Agenda virtual event, Fauci said the lack of cooperation both at the Federal and local levels, as well as the divisiveness in the society, have seriously undermined the US efforts to battle the COVID-19 pandemic including the vaccine campaign.
Many Republicans have attacked the Biden administration for blaming current supply shortages on Trump. The second ranking House Republican, Whip Steven Scalise, in a statement on Friday said because of Trump's Operation Warp Speed the United States is already administering close to a million vaccines a day.
Last week, Baylor College of Medicine infectious disease expert Peter Hotez told VOX the US should aim for at least 2 million shots a day considering some 80% of Americans need to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity. At the proposed rates, the US would not reach sufficient immunization levels until September or October, according to the report.
The US is also taking steps towards boosting global engagement. Last week Biden signed an order reversing the Trump administration decision to exit the World Health Organization. Rodney Hunter, Political Coordinator at the US Mission to the United Nations said in a Security Council meeting on Monday that the US was ready to back the organization.
"The WHO must play a central role in our combined response to this pandemic," Hunter said. "As a WHO member state, the United States will work closely with all of you to ensure the WHO is strengthened and reformed appropriately, not only to face this current challenge but also to effectively stand up to other challenges yet to come."
Hunter also said that the United States looks forward to working with the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, COVAX and Gavi Vaccine Alliance to help facilitate a rapid vaccine rollout worldwide.
