The new mutation of the virus is understandably making a lot of people nervous.
And it comes as there are now two approved vaccines in the U.S.
So we asked a doctor: will the vaccines work against this new form of the virus?
"As of now, there's no reason to think that this level of mutation will make either than Moderna or Pfizer vaccines ineffective." said Dr. Stella Safo, internal medicine physician. "However, you know, one of the things that we always say, and when it comes to public health is for a new pandemic. It's a condemning because it's new. So we're learning. And so what you're going to see the geneticists working on the virologist working on is just gathering as much data as we can, mapping it against what we understand. What happened with this vaccine, with the vaccines that are coming out and just continuing to iterate and kind of generate information to make sure that we understand what we seem to be true, actually is true."
Dr. Safo told Newsy that given what the science tells us now the vaccines will work against the new variant.
The U.S. Surgeon General also stressed science would lead the way, and says safety precautions are even more important now.
"We're going to follow the science, but the recommendations don't change," said Dr. Jerome Adams, U.S. Surgeon General. "As a matter of fact, it means we need to double down on the recommendations: Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Watch your distance and wait on holiday gatherings this year."
