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1/n Please pay attention, please. I'm afraid that we are falling behind in this COVID race. There are at least 4 variants of concern: variants arising in London, Manaus, Japan and South Africa.
2/n The London variant is more contagious. The Manaus and South African variants may -- MAY -- cause repeat infections.
3/n I cannot see any way forward except: 1. detect the frequency of the variants in the USA and isolate and confine them.
4/n 2. Vaccinate as fast as possible to raise herd immunity. 3. Demand negative PCR tests before allowing anyone into the country, like many other countries have done.
5/n 4. The negative PCR test must be repeated 4 days after entry. There will still be leakage, but we can Whackamole those.
6/n If a vaccine resistant strain arises, we are looking at another 500K deaths. It is a crucial time. 5. We need to have a good test for the variants. Get researchers to find PCR primers to detect the variants. There isn't time to lose.
7/n Incentivize and EUA a rapid test for the London, Manaus, S.African and Japan variants. If it's already spread in the US, let's reconvene and rethink. I cannot emphasize the urgency. @EricTopol can you send out some info on all this ?
