New York: Since November, the UK has reported a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in London and southeast England linked to a different variant of the virus that causes the disease, which has been predicted to potentially be more rapidly transmissible than other circulating strains of the virus. As alarm about the variant grows, England has tightened restrictions and many nations including EU countries and even India and Canada have banned flights from England and put quarantine regulations for passengers coming from there. Public health professionals in the UK are still evaluating the characteristics of this new variant.
Meanwhile, after approval by the FDA, rollout across America has started of both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Several political leaders including Vice President Mike Pence and President Elect Joe Biden and health officials like Dr Anthony Fauci have taken the vaccine live on TV to instill confidence in the efficacy and safety of the vaccine. Also, Pfizer and the US government have reached an agreement in which the pharma giant has committed to an additional 100 million doses of the vaccine.
