Even Deadlier New COVID Strain?

Now more than ever is the worst time to start letting your guard down from COVID-19 as 4,000 deaths a day is now a reality in the United States of America. However, there is an even greater found strain on the horizon that has yet to unleash its true potential of fatal consequence.  Although the B.1.1.7 strain isn’t understood as more deadly in regards to its victims likelihood of survival, it is the case when considering the significantly higher acquisition and hyper-transmissibility of the newly mutated virus. B.1.1.7 has now shown frightening prominence in recently found cases, prominently blossoming in the country of Ireland as 43% of new cases within only the past 2 weeks have been classified as the new strain. This version of the virus is now considered the dominant strain in Ireland and has successfully acquired the title of highest new cases per capita globally. 

From this, we can gather a pair of good news and bad news. The good news is that the vaccine still is effective in combating the lethal and even fatal effects of this evolved virus strain. The bad news is that the United States has shown a discouraging rollout. Even though we have the ability and scientific knowledge to create a vaccine in record-breaking time, the United States struggles in a time with no political stability to distribute it effectively. Cases of this can be seen with examples such as California, having approximately around 2,000,000 vaccinations left to distribute and are already far behind its own projected timeline. Much of the blame could be pinned toward the sort of distribution approach many levels of governments have decided to commit. Instead of restricting individuals by prioritizing certain professions and age groups, a new trend of scientists and influencers are starting to suggest that the most suitable alternative is to then advance with a “First come first serve” advancement. This is predicted to accelerate and widen vaccinated population sizes enough to drastically reduce the current rate of COVID infections. Only time will tell if the United States and the soon to occur transition of power will ultimately hinder or benefit the country’s future.