Feb 7, 2021 - Health

Study: U.K. coronavirus variant is doubling in U.S. every 10 days

Orion Rummler

A man is pushed in a wheelchair in front of a sign that reads "Covid-19 vaccination hub" — A mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Cal Poly on Feb. 5 in Pomona, CA. Photo: Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The highly contagious coronavirus variant first detected in the U.K. is doubling in the U.S. nearly every 10 days, according to a new study released on Sunday.

Why it matters: The preprint study from MedRxiv, which has not been peer-reviewed, comes after the CDC and top infectious disease experts have warned that the highly transmissible COVID-19 variant could become the dominant U.S. strain.

Moderna and Pfizer have both found its vaccines effective against variants first found in the U.K. and South Africa. The U.K. strain does not appear to cause more severe COVID-19 symptoms.

Details: The MedRxiv preprint study found that the U.K. variant is 35-46% more transmissible in the U.S., which is in line with other estimates, including a Public Health England study that found B.1.1.7 is 30% to 50% more transmissible than other forms of the virus.

The CDC contracted with genomics company Helix in order to complete the preprint study.

What they're saying: “There could indeed be a very serious situation developing in a matter of months or weeks,” Nicholas Davies, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the New York Times. He was not involved in the study.

“These may be early signals warranting urgent investigation by public health authorities," he said.
Davies "cautioned that U.S. data is patchier than that in Britain and other countries," per the Times. “If these data are representative, there may be limited time to act."

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Study: U.K. coronavirus variant is doubling in U.S. every 10 days

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