ScienceToday

If it weren’t for the new COVID strains, we would have celebrated the number of cases finally being on the decline, or the fact that the vaccine rollout seems to be increasing. In fact, 200 million doses will be available in the United States two months earlier than expected, which is great news for American citizens who cannot wait to get vaccinated.

However, we can’t celebrate these accomplishments just yet, because the thing that experts fearfully anticipated for some time now, has become a reality in our country. The White House COVID adviser Anthony Fauci, MD, mentioned during a January 28 interview with MSNBC’s Morning Joe, that even though the numbers are decreasing, things have the potential to become even worse.

RELATED POST: CDC Director Believes The “Worst Is Yet to Come” With COVID.

And that’s because the new strains from the U.K. and South Africa are much more transmissible than the original one. Therefore, Fauci is worried that things could easily take a turn for the worse, and he’s particularly worried about one new variant. According to Anthony Fauci, “The [variant] that is of greater concern and that really could be problematic is the mutant that is now dominant in South Africa.”

The irony is that a few hours later, his fear became a reality, when two cases of the new South African variant, called 501Y.V2, have been confirmed into the United States as well.

Read on to find out more info about the new South African strain and find out what experts have predicted!

Make sure to also check: The 2 States With The Largest Numbers for the New COVID Variant.