The race behind the COVID-19 vaccine

On December 29, Colorado officials reported the first person in the U.S. to be infected by the new coronavirus variant, SARS-CoV-2 VUI 202012/01, that is more contagious than any other coronavirus variant known. Blazers express concern but also optimism as vaccine distribution lags. 

This strand was initially discovered in the United Kingdom. Many believe the strand is the reason for the U.K.’s recent spontaneous increase in COVID cases. The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, explains that this new strand is possibly 70 percent more transmissible than other COVID  variants. 

Blair junior Steve Amonles believes that this is a cause for concern. “I think it's scary because maybe right now more people have it than we know. And we may have to go into quarantine again,” Amonles said. 

Despite this new information and the warnings from British officials, former President Trump and his administration didn’t test people coming in from the U.K. With the inauguration of President Biden, junior Kiera Lamb is optimistic that the covid relief plan will improve. “I’m hoping that there will be a better plan in place for vaccine distribution because at the moment vaccine distribution is very much at a state level. Hopefully there will be a better national sense on what we're actually going to do with the vaccine,” she said. 

The U.S. has approved two vaccines so far: the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine (thank God for the fact that the vaccines are still effective against these new variants). The plan for distributing the vaccines is split into phases. On December 3, the CDC stated that Phase 1a is healthcare workers. On December 22, the CDC announced the next two phases: Phase 1b is frontline workers (such as firefighters) and people ages 75 or older. Phase 1c is people ages 65-74 and those ages 16-64 that have a condition that weakens their immune system. The remaining essential workers are included in this phase as well.  

Due to governmental mismanagement, the world is at a disadvantage but the U.S. is still determined to beat the coronavirus and distribute vaccines in a more mannerly way. “At the moment, I would say the coronavirus is winning the race,” Lamb said.