Decreased immunity and new variants of Covid: the warning from the leading epidemiologist in the United States

The chief epidemiologist of the US Government, Anthony Fauciwarned this Wednesday that otherwise it would be possible to maintain low levels of coronavirus infections new variants will continue to appear which will further complicate the fight against pandemic.

Fauci spoke at the first press conference offered by the White House pandemic response team for two and a half monthswhen the country has a fair over a million deaths from Covidthe highest number in the world.

“immunity decreasesand that’s why it’s so important to be up to date on vaccine doses and especially on booster doses, ”the epidemiologist said.

His comments come at a time when many states across the country are registering proliferation of new infections and hospitalizationdriven by the emergence of new subvariants of omicron that are highly contagious.

Deaths did not rise at the same rate of infections thanks, in part, to the effect of vaccines and the appearance of treatments against the disease, such as Pfizer’s pill, Paxlovid.

However, the risk is posed the appearance of new variants is that immunity acquired against earlier forms of coronavirus does not serve to protect the population when the effect of the first vaccines has disappeared.

As U.S. government experts recall, the new generation of covid vaccines is already under development, and is expected to be available in the fall or winter.

ask for funding

However, if the country wants to have the opportunity to buy enough vaccines to protect its population Congress must approve $ 22.5 billion with additional spending requested by the White House, according to the government’s new pandemic response coordinator, Ashish Jha.

“I think we would see a lot of unnecessary deaths” if the spending plan didn’t pass, Jha said.

The expert explained that the US government has already had some preliminary talks with vaccine manufacturers, but they cannot begin to negotiate. until they have a budgetand they risk being “caught” against other countries that already have allocated funds.

Jha further ensured that his team prepares for any scenario, including one where they receive less funding than requested.

“I’m sure we’ll find money to vaccinate some Americans, maybe the high -risk population, we don’t know. But it’s not a decision we want to make,” the doctor said.

All experts agreed to continue recommending the use of masks when the risk of infection is high, and vaccination with booster doses for those who will receive them.

Call to be vaccinated

In this sense, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle Walensky, recalled that many people under the age of 50 have not yet received a booster of the covid-19 vaccine.

According to data from the CDC itself, 66.5% of the U.S. population has completed the vaccination schedule, and only 46.4

“There are still some people who haven’t been getting a third dose and we know it’s very important, especially against omicron,” Walensky explains.

The expert stressed the importance of these people being vaccinated with the booster in order for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve the use of the fourth dose for this age group, something that has not yet been recommended. except in cases of risk.

Similarly, children under 6 years of age, who still do not have access to immunization in the United States, should be included in the immunization strategy as soon as possible, although none of the experts want to put a date on this change in standard.

According to Jha, the FDA manages the approval of the use of vaccines for different age groups, and in the case of those under 6 years old, they want to make sure they have all the data before making of the final decision.

Pharmaceutical Moderna, one of the major makers of covid vaccines, asked the FDA at the end of April to authorize the use of its vaccine for children under 6 years of age, something the company said was “able to safely protect them. children against SARS-CoV-2 “.

With information from EFE

DD