U.S. ‘keeping a very close eye’ on mu variant--Dr. Fauci

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U.S. ‘keeping a very close eye’ on mu variant--Dr. Fauci

Fri, 2021-09-03 09:53 — mike kraft

Covid-19 live updates: U.S. ‘keeping a very close eye’ on mu variant, Fauci says The World Health Organization has designated it a "variant of interest." Bryan Pietsch, Adela Suliman, Annabelle Timsit Washington Post

A coronavirus variant known as mu — which was designated by the World Health Organization as a “variant of interest” earlier this week — is not an “immediate threat” to the United States, according to Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s top infectious-disease expert.

Fauci told a news briefing Thursday that the variant was “not at all even close to being dominant,” as the delta variant remains the cause of over 99 percent of cases in the country. But he added, “We’re keeping a very close eye on it.”

The WHO says the mu variant has “a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape.” But it says further studies are needed to find out whether the variant reported in the United States, Japan, Ecuador and parts of Europe will be resistant to coronavirus vaccines. ...

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