Wellness

[Mindy D]

The CDC director has stated that the B117 (UK variant) variant has now taken over to become the most dominant strain circulating in the US. 

[NickNack]

I got an email about that today @Mindy D .  Do you know how effective the Pfizer vaccine is against that?  I Googled it and couldn't find anything specifically about the UK variant.

[Mindy D]

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@NickNack wrote:

I got an email about that today @Mindy D .  Do you know how effective the Pfizer vaccine is against that?  I Googled it and couldn't find anything specifically about the UK variant.

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@NickNack @Pfizer provides good protection or is considered highly effective against the UK variant. The most recent efficacy data specified in the post I made from Pfizer's press release about its vaccines efficacy and duration of protection a few days ago did not mention the UK variant, so I'm relying on a  couple of different studies you can view here as well as Medscape which is getting its data from the New England Journal of Medicine.

According to Medscape online "Where Do COVID vaccines Stand Against the Variants" on March 29, 2021:

"Of the three "variants of concern" recognized by the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, studies have shown that the mRNA vaccines created by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, as well as the Novavax vaccine, remain highly effective against the B.1.1.7 variant, which was first recognized in the United Kingdom." Medline's source is New England Journal of Medicine. March 23, 2021.

"Overall, their results suggest that a previous infection or vaccination provides good protection against B.1.1.7 but much less effective protection against B.1.351.

The study appears in the journal Nature MedicineTrusted Source."

Quoted from Medical News Today, April 1, 2021

A second study was discussed earlier in a different article in Medical News Today on Feb. 23, 2021. 

"Now, however, a newly published in the journal Science provides reassurance that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine stimulates the immune system to produce sufficient quantities of antibodies that can neutralize the new variant."

[NickNack]

Thank you very much for that information @Mindy D .

[Still Raining]

There is a map of states on the CDC site, but due to a lack testing perhaps, there are only reporting about 20,000 cases nationwide.

It is interesting that my grandkid was exposed to a 10 year old last week.  Never heard about a case that young around here.  And I don't like it 😫

[mimomof4]

While I personally could care less about what the CDC director has to say.  I do have to ask all of you who are obsessed with these variants - do you have the same obsession with the flu strain which is identified each year.  COVID IS going to be the exact same thing constantly coming back around every single year.

[MW in Iowa]

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@mimomof4 wrote:

While I personally could care less about what the CDC director has to say.  I do have to ask all of you who are obsessed with these variants - do you have the same obsession with the flu strain which is identified each year.  COVID IS going to be the exact same thing constantly coming back around every single year.

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I can't answer for anyone else , but obsession would not be a word i would use , informed is a better description. If you don't care about these health issues , move on .

[goldensrbest]

This has been on the news this week.

[KarenQVC]

@mimomof4 I am concerned about variants because they can be even more lethal than the original.  It is handy to know.

[Porcelain]

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@mimomof4 wrote:

While I personally could care less about what the CDC director has to say.  I do have to ask all of you who are obsessed with these variants - do you have the same obsession with the flu strain which is identified each year.  COVID IS going to be the exact same thing constantly coming back around every single year.

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The army is working on a general Coronavirus vaccine. So that would cover Covid variants as well as colds!