‘We’re in a race between variants and vaccinations’: expert on COVID-19

Seana Smith
·Host
3 min read
2

As the number of U.S. COVID-19 cases trend upwards, health officials are warning of another wave of the pandemic.

“I am concerned,” said Dr. Jay Schnitzer, MITRE Corporation chief medical officer and chief technology officer, referring to the uptick in cases and another possible resurgence. “We're now in a race between the variants and vaccinations.”

The U.S. reported more than 66,000 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University data, as the daily seven-day average rose to nearly 67,000. That’s up from the 14-day average of 60,000.

“The fact it's going back up and driven at least in part by the variants, that is of concern,” said Schnitzer. “I'm not only worried about the three or four or five variants we know today, I’m equally as worried about the next three we don't even know about yet. We need to get this under control as soon as possible in order to prevent the next round of variants which could be worse.”

UK variant becoming 'predominant variant in many US regions'

The more contagious variants are partly behind the recent rise in COVID-19 cases.

Health officials have warned the fast-spreading UK variant, known as B.1.1.7, is becoming the predominant strain across the U.S. During a White House news briefing this week, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters the strain originating in the UK now accounts for 26% of all COVID-19 cases sequenced nationwide.

With new variants spreading at a fast rate, Schnitzer is encouraging people to continue to wear masks, social distance, and practice good hygiene “until enough Americans are vaccinated to reduce this risk… If not, we’ll see cases go up.”

As of Thursday, more than 99 million Americans, about 30% of the population, received at least one vaccine dose, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data. Meanwhile 56 million Americans, about 17% of the population, are fully vaccinated.

Bringing employees back to the office

As states expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility, companies are starting to bring employees back to the office.

Google told its U.S. employees this week that some workers could return to the office on a voluntary basis as soon as this month, while Microsoft permitted employees to return to its headquarters in Redmond, Washington, and nearby campuses this week.

With more companies gradually rolling out plans to bring employees back, Schnitzer says it’s all about ‘risk reduction and risk mitigation,' arguing the decision depends on workplace environment.

“If the work space is such that people are able to maintain social distancing, wear masks and practice good hygiene... and if most of the workers in that facility have been vaccinated, that's a safe environment,” said Schnitzer. “If the answer to any of those questions is no, then you have to wonder whether it's safe enough.”

“This is all about risk reduction and risk mitigation. We're never going to be able to eliminate the risk entirely but we have to make the risk low enough so it makes sense for everybody, and that's going to vary case by case,” he added.

Seana Smith anchors Yahoo Finance Live’s 3-5 p.m. ET program. Follow her on Twitter @SeanaNSmith

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