Harvard Researchers Weigh In On If Vaccine Covers New Strain Of COVID-19

Harvard researchers are reportedly looking into a new strain of COVID-19 found in the United States recently.

On Monday (January 4), an individual in Saratoga Springs, New York tested positive for the new variant of coronavirus, which had also been found in two other states, WCVB reports.

Dr. Dan Barouch, who leads a team at Harvard's Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, told WCVB that he believes the COVID-19 vaccines will be able to combat variants of the coronavirus, although it has yet to be confirmed.

Experts have also said even if the vaccines don't work on the new strain, it doesn't mean a new pandemic will begin, due to the vast discoveries and progress made over the last year.

“If it took, say, one year to make the vaccines, the current vaccines, then it will take a much, much shorter period of time to time to revise them,” Barouch told WCVB.

The new strain was initially found in the United Kingdom before being discovered in Colorado in late December.

Governor Jared Polis announced the coronavirus variant was found in a Colorado man in his 20s, the Associated Press reports.

Scientists in the United Kingdom believe the new virus variant is more contagious than the initial identified coronavirus strains of the SARS-CoV-2, however, the vaccines currently being distributed are believed to be effective against the new variant, according to Colorado health officials via a news release obtained by the AP.

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