The COVID-19 pandemic seems to be winding down, in terms of restrictions anyway.
But health officials across the nation have been urging the public the not let their guards down just yet. Especially with reports of several new COVID-19 variants popping up in various cities across the US.
FOX31 reports that two cases of the Brazilian COVID-19 variant were found in Colorado. While the cases don't appear to be connected, officials are still contact tracing to determine how the individuals contracted the virus.
Health experts say these new COVID-19 variants are concerning because they are more contagious and can cause more severe illness.
Dr. Michelle Barron, an infectious Disease Specialist at UCHealth told FOX31 the development of these new variants are not surprising to experts who have been studying the virus.
"We always think of a virus as one virus, but there are hundreds of cousins that want to hang out together," said Barron. "And sometimes they say let’s go hang out and play so they may mix. This is part of their ability to survive. They want to perpetuate and continue to survive."
To minimize the impact of these variants, Barron suggests getting fully vaccinated as soon as possible.
“We certainly know there can be the potential for decreased efficacy for the vaccine in the setting of a variants, but we don’t know to what extent,” Barron said. “But at the end of the day, it’s still more than zero. If you don’t get a vaccine, you have no protection against these variants. If you have a vaccine, you still have 50, 60, 70 (percent) or maybe higher in terms of protection. The goal at the end of the day is to keep you out of the hospital and keep you from dying … a vaccine will do that even with a variant.”
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