Coronavirus variants are like 'tidal waves' once they fully arrive

Coronavirus variants are like 'tidal waves' once they fully arrive Although the U.S. finally reached an important milestone in the number of vaccinations surpassing the number of COVID-19 cases, the country is not out of the woods yet. YahooNews

The U.S. recently reached an important psychological milestone when the number of coronavirus vaccinations surpassed the number of COVID-19 cases, but the country is not out of the woods yet.

The rise of new variants or mutant strains of the coronavirus has proven to be a challenge in containing the spread and ensuring that vaccines are effective. The two most significant variants so far are out of the U.K. (the B117 strain) and South Africa (B.1.351), both of which are expected to become dominant in the U.S. in March.

“Essentially, we are in a race against time here,” Dr. Manish Garg, an emergency medicine physician and co-founder of the World Academic Council of Emergency Medicine, said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). “These variants can be thought of probably as either tidal waves or as forest fires when they come. They’re basically borne from regions or areas where the rates are very, very high, and there are multiple countries around the world where they’re developing these variants and they’re coming in.”

There have been confirmed cases of both strains in the U.S. already, raising concerns about whether or not the current COVID-19 vaccines will be able to work against it.

Pfizer (PFE) and Moderna (MRNA), the companies behind the two vaccines currently being administered throughout the U.S., have said their shots are highly effective against the U.K. variant and less effective against the South African strain. Both companies are now working on developing booster shots directly targeting that variant.

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