Fauci Warns of 'More Ominous' Strains of COVID-19 Emerging in South Africa, Brazil

By Dana Cruz First Posted: Jan 17, 2021 09:44 PM EST

(Photo : Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on November 19, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Dr. Anthony Fauci warned on Sunday about "more ominous" strains of COVID-19 that emerged in other parts of the world.

Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said U.S. researchers are looking "very carefully" at more ominous strains in addition to another highly contagious COVID-19 strain first found in the U.K., reported New York Post.

He also assured that officials are taking the "more ominous" strains from South Africa and Brazil "very seriously."

Fauci said he did not want people to panic over the emergence of COVID-19 mutations but wanted the public to stay aware that there is now more than one mutation of the virus, and it comes with threats.

"People need to realize there's more than one mutant strain," Fauci told NBC anchor Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press."

'More Ominous' Strains of COVID-19 May Not Be More Virulent

So far, studies have found that the new strains aren't more virulent. Meaning they don't make people more sick or more likely to die because of it.

However, he said more cases emerge also means more hospitalizations that could damage the country's health care system during this time of crisis.

Fauci observed that the mutation might have caused or contributed to a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases across the U.S., reported Daily Wire.

Talking to The Washington Post, he stressed that the effects were likely brought by the mutant being "more easily transmissible" compared to before.

COVID-19 cases in the country have dramatically gone down in the country since April. But have recently risen, similar to what's been occurring in the U.K.

In comparing the COVID-19 situation in both regions, he said: "the slope of our curve, which is very steep, it looks a bit like the curve in the U.K."

Mutation's Impact on COVID-19 Vaccine Still Unknown

Fauci reiterated that studies are still ongoing on whether the changes in the virus affect the vaccines' efficacy or whether they will be resistant to the shots on the market.

He assured that if research finds the lessened impact of the vaccine, researchers will "make some modifications" to the vaccine, reported Massachusetts Live.

Recent studies on the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine showed that its vaccine effectively protected people against both the U.K. and South Africa strains.

The Brazil strain is similar to the South African mutation first detected in October, and it has since spread to 20 countries.

Reports claim it can prevent antibodies from protecting someone against the virus along with one more mutation and the same set of mutations with the U.K. strain.

Related story: Doctors Warn of COVID-19's Permanent Symptom

Japanese officials first found this mutated variant of COVID-19 in four travelers from Brazil. Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases still needs to look into how infectious the strain may be and whether it has immunity against the vaccines.

Direct flights from South Africa have been banned in the U.K., and there were also similar bans for travelers from South America, Portugal, and Cape Verde.