Pouch: "COVID-19 Infections in South Africa, Reinfections Due to Variants"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said on the 29th (local time) that cases of COVID-19 reinfection with variant viruses are emerging in South Africa.

Fauci stated on NBC News that during a call with South African scientists and public health experts, they told him, "Something strange is happening now. There were people infected a few months ago, and now they are being reinfected with this new variant."

In South Africa, the variant virus 'B.1.351,' known to be more transmissible than the original COVID-19 virus, has emerged and is spreading. Fauci explained, "This indicates that the immune response induced by the first infection was not strong enough to prevent a second infection."

However, Fauci emphasized that vaccination appears to be as good as or better than natural infection in preventing such reinfections.

Fauci said, "Vaccines seem to be better at inducing that kind of (immune) protection because they have an efficacy of 50 to 88% in preventing severe disease."

Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that as of the 29th, 434 cases of the UK-origin variant virus have been detected in 30 states. This is more than 100 cases higher than the number reported by the CDC on the 27th.

Additionally, in the U.S., two cases of the South Africa-origin variant have been reported in South Carolina, and one case of the Brazil-origin variant has been confirmed in Minnesota.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.