As current epidemic surge peaks, we may see 3-4 weeks of declines in new cases but then new variant will take over. It'll double in prevalence about every week. It'll change the game and could mean we have persistent high infection through spring until we vaccinate enough people. https://twitter.com/Surgeon_General/status/1350802789291745282

New variants may change everything. They'll be 1% of all cases by end of next week, with hot spots in Florida and Southern California. But doubling every week, they'll be about 30% of all cases in 5 or 6 weeks. It'll be harder to hide from them, schools will be more vulnerable.

What can we do? We're in a race against time to get as much protective immunity into population as backstop against continued spread. The vaccine is our only tool. We also need to become more vigilant about masking. Quality of mask matters more now. N95 best, or double masking.

We still have a window of opportunity to slow its spread. The faster we can bring down infection rates now, the more we can stop chains of transmission. The same approaches apply: masking, distancing, avoiding risky congregate settings. We need to buy time while we can vaccinate.