Variant-fuels Covid-19 surge could come in weeks, but cases may decrease by summer - CNN

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Wed, 2021-02-24 09:40 — mike kraft

Experts worry variant-fueled surge of Covid-19 could be weeks away but cases will likely fall again by summer Coronavirus infections across the US are still on the way down, and more Americans are getting vaccinated -- but variants could cause complications soon. Christina Maxouris, CNN CNN

(CNN) Coronavirus infections across the US are still on the way down, and more Americans are getting vaccinated -- but variants could cause complications soon.

Several experts predicted Tuesday the highly contagious B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the UK is likely to fuel another surge of cases in just a matter of weeks.

"It could result in more of a wave in, say, April or May than we would have expected otherwise," Trevor Bedford, of the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, said during a briefing sponsored by the center. "But I still do suspect that things will be brought under control in the summer, and there will be very little virus circulating."

The predicted surge is why many experts highlight the need to double down on safety measures like face masks, social distancing and avoiding crowded areas. Helping to lower cases will also give the virus less of a chance to spread further and mutate, experts have said.

...the new, infectious variants make it "difficult to prevent a fourth wave altogether," said Dr. Josh Schiffer, an infectious diseases specialist at Fred Hutchinson.

To speed up vaccinations, one report suggests the US should consider skipping second doses for now of two-dose vaccines produced by Pfizer and BioNTech. People over 65 should go to the front of the line since they're by far the most vulnerable to severe disease and death, according to a recommendation from Mike Osterholm and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. ...

The group called on the FDA and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisers to be quickly convened and determine whether data supports the group's recommendations, including deferring second vaccine doses to after the coming surge....

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