New Virus Variant Hits US As Biden Vows All-Out Effort

The new variant of coronavirus was detected for the
first time Tuesday in the United States and Latin America as
President-elect Joe Biden vowed to significantly ramp up the
vaccination drive.

The new strain, which first emerged in the UK, pushed Britain to
a new daily record of infections and led South Africa to impose a
raft of new measures, amid fears around the world that holiday
revelers are aggravating the spike in infections.

The EU health agency warned the strain carried a high risk for
more hospitalizations and deaths — not because the infections are
more severe but because it spreads more easily.

The Rocky Mountain state of Colorado recorded what is believed
to be the first case in the United States — which has suffered the
highest death toll of the year-old pandemic that has claimed more
than 1.78 million lives globally. Nearly 338,000 people have died
of Covid-19 in the US.

Governor Jared Polis said a man in his 20s near Denver was
infected with the variant known as B.1.1.7 and is isolating.

Biden, after a briefing from experts, warned that the dire COVID
situation may not ease up until “well into March.”

“The next few weeks and months are going to be very tough — a
very tough period for our nation, maybe the toughest during this
entire pandemic,” he said.

Hospitalizations are back at an all-time high in the US at more
than 121,000 as of Monday.

In Los Angeles, ambulances waited all day to unload COVID
patients, with more than 95 percent of hospitals forced to divert
new cases away, and one reportedly treating patients in its gift
shop and chapel. Southern California extended a three-week old
lockdown indefinitely Tuesday.

‘Greatest Operational Challenge’

Biden called mass vaccination the “greatest operational
challenge we’ve ever faced as a nation” — and promised the US would
do better after he replaces defeated President Donald Trump on
January 20.

“The Trump administration’s plan to distribute vaccines is
falling far behind,” Biden said, promising: “I’m going to move
Heaven and Earth to get us going in the right direction.”

The Trump administration had predicted that 20 million Americans
would be vaccinated by the end of December.

With days left, some 2.1 million have received the first shot of
the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.

Biden renewed his promise to administer 100 million vaccine
doses in his first 100 days in office and confirmed he would invoke
a Korean War-era law to force private industry to step up
production.

“We’re planning a whole-of-government effort and we’re going to
work to set up vaccination sites and send mobile units to
hard-to-reach communities,” Biden said.

With health workers desperately waiting, politicians have been
among first to be vaccinated in a stated goal of setting an
example, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris taking her first
dose Tuesday before cameras in Washington.

As conspiracy theories spread on the internet, a new poll by
Ipsos Global Advisor showed that just four in 10 people in France
want to get vaccinated, a figure that is only slightly higher in
Russia and South Africa.

Record Cases In Britain

Britain’s government came under pressure to tighten restrictions
as it announced a record 24-hour high of 53,135 new infections.

Critical care doctor Samantha Batt-Rawden said medical staff
were at “breaking point.”

“We are incredibly thin on the ground. NHS (National Health
Service) staff have not been prioritized for the vaccine and are
going off sick in droves with the new strain,” she tweeted.

In South Africa, which has recorded more than 300 cases of the
new variant and is the first African nation to hit one million
cases, the government banned the sale of alcohol and made masks
compulsory in public.

“We have let down our guard, and unfortunately we are now paying
the price,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Chile on Tuesday became the first Latin American country to
detect the new strain, in a woman who returned from Madrid after
also visiting Britain and Dubai.

In response, health authorities announced a 10-day quarantine
from December 31 for all arrivals.

The new strain was also detected in the United Arab Emirates and
India, which has the second-biggest caseload in the world.

Worrisome trends have been increasing worldwide, with South
Korea — hailed for its early success — logging its highest daily
death toll yet.

And Moscow reported a 27 per cent increase in fatalities in the
capital from October to November — a day after Russia admitted its
number of Covid-19 deaths were more than three times higher than
previously reported.

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