Cuomo warns of deadlier variant
Governor calls it “just a matter of time” before a more lethal COVID reaches U.S.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Wednesday that “it is just a matter of time” before a new variant of the coronavirus comes to the U.S. that is more lethal, adding that existing vaccines not working on those variants is “a matter of probability.”
“As frightening as that sounds, the flu mutates every year. There’s a new flu vaccine every year. There could be a strain that requires a new vaccine, that’s a possibility. And we’ve done so much vaccine work. It’s also possible that we could come up with a quick new vaccine,” Cuomo said.
He said the United States, by not having a policy of requiring negative tests for all international arrivals in the country, is “playing Russian roulette with the virus.” The United Kingdom variant of COVID -19 is rapidly spreading in the U.S., with Cuomo saying four new cases were found in New York and that the federal government expects it could be more widespread than the previous variant within months.
That variant is significantly more transmissible than the original COVID -19, but it is not thought to be more deadly.
There are also new variants that have been identified in Brazil and South Africa.
“So far the mutated strains are different and more dangerous,” Cuomo said.
The vaccine distribution network has been ramped up — although in some areas more successfully than others — Cuomo said, and the big holdup is that the federal government is not providing enough doses. Pfizer and Moderna, based on federal law, are not able to sell their vaccines directly to states, companies or individuals. Cuomo announced earlier this week he’d sent a letter to Pfizer to buy vaccines directly from the company.
At the current rate of supply, it would take New York 7.5 more months to vaccinate the roughly 7 million people who are currently eligible to receive shots.
“I’m 63 — I know, I look a lot older — at this rate, I’m not going to be eligible for eight months,” Cuomo said. “But I want to at least be able to say we were fair with what we had.”