“Super-Covid” can mean that the vaccination doesn’t stop EVERYONE from spreading

Even vaccinating 100 percent of the population may not be enough to eradicate COVID-19 once “super-Covid” variants dominate in the US, according to a new study.

The appearance of infectious variants means that each new case could lead to a larger number of additional cases. As a result, vaccines – even the most effective – may not outperform transmission rates.

An analysis by the University of East Anglia (UEA) found that the effectiveness of the vaccines currently available, coupled with the emergence of new more infectious strains of the virus, means that the reproductive rate, referred to by scientists as the “R”, always stays above zero. that each infection leads to a different case.

If the coronavirus transmission rate could be slowed to an R-number of one, the pandemic would be considered “stable”. If it drops below one, infectious disease experts would consider the outbreak to be waning.

The East Anglia study suggests that even the shot with the best efficacy rating – Pfizer at 95 percent – needs to be given to more than 80 percent of the population to get the R number of the UK variant (or similarly infectious those) under one.

Even vaccinating 100 percent of the population with the more effective Pfizer and Moderna shocks wouldn’t bring the R-number to zero, the researchers suggest. Less effective shots like those at Oxford University couldn’t get the R number below one even if 100 percent of the population had received it.

On his first day in office, President Biden signed 17 executive orders, including a mask mandate covering all federal territories and land, and pledged to vaccinate 100 million Americans against COVID-19 in his first 100 days in office – but there is no guarantee he will create.

Biden’s plans include opening 100 vaccine centers in stadiums and convention centers, funding the states’ own mass vaccination centers, and using the Defense Production Act to fuel the manufacture of vaccine ingredients and supplies.

It could be weeks before the results of these new plans show, and the new study suggests that time is more important than ever as the already dire race between vaccination and the spread of the coronavirus deepens.

And as long as vaccines are less than 100 percent effective, fast-spreading variants can always slip through the cracks.

Even if 100 percent of the population were vaccinated with Pfizer’s 95% effective shot (green), the transmission rate of the “Super-Covid” variant from Great Britain would be above zero, while less effective shots like Oxfords (red and blue) would not drive the R number below 1, at which point the pandemic would be considered “stable”.