LANSING, Mich. — Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail says the new COVID-19 strain may have already made its way from the United Kingdom to the United States.
The new variant is said to be so infectious, that it prompted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to cancel Christmas gatherings for millions.
Vail says the mutation is cause for concern and that more research needs to be done.
“If we’re detecting it in the UK right now it’s probably already been here and already is here,” Vail said. “What I’m hearing right now and obviously this is all early on and is really not completely you know, really established is that it is a slight mutation that may increase the infection rate or the transmission but not the severeness of the illness.”
Vail added that it’s not uncommon to see mutations coming from viruses. Both Pfizer and Moderna are working with the new strain of COVID-19 to make sure their vaccines will still work.
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