COVID Vax Development Chief: UK Virus Variant Doesn’t Appear To Be In US

A coronavirus variant that’s triggered a spike in cases in the U.K. doesn’t appear to have made its way to the United States, the head of the nation’s vaccine development effort said Sunday.

In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Dr. Moncef Slaoui said it doesn’t appear any variant is resistant to vaccines now available to protect against COVID-19.

“Up to now, I don’t think there has been a single variant that would be resistant to the vaccine,” he said. “We can’t exclude it but it’s not there now. This particular variant in the U.K, I think, is very unlikely to have escaped the vaccine.”

Slaoui said reactions to the Pfizer vaccine are being examined, but emphasized it’s important everyone get a shot — including those who’ve had the disease like President Donald Trump.

“We will continue to try and understand what is it in the vaccine that induces this, if there is something that induces this specific [reaction],” he said of reactions that include tingling, a rapid heart beat and in at least one case, anaphylactic shock. All were safely treated.

“It is safe to being immunized after being exposed to the virus and that has happened in the clinical trials,” he added.

“It will induce a much higher immune response and ensure in case, infection doesn’t induce long-lasting protection and it allow to have better protection. I think people should be vaccinated, indeed.

According to Slaoui, the first Moderna vaccine will be given Monday morning, and he called a distribution lag for Pfizer doses a distribution “hiccup.”

“We all made the error or mistake of assuming that vaccine that is actually produced and being released is already available for shipment when, in fact, there is a two days’ lag between the time we generate a lot of data that shows this vaccine vial is actually safe and right, and the time we can ship,” he said.

We now are clear that we will be shipping 5.9 million doses of the Moderna vaccine and 2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Monday and that is what will happen.”

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