 So even if there is some cause for optimism since we have two vaccines and a third one that will be seeking emergency approval by the FDA shortly you know there's still a long road ahead to actually ending this pandemic and the numbers are absolutely horrific and We can all anticipate it getting worse if the new variant of COVID-19 does spread as widely as It looks like it's going to spread now it's not necessarily more deadly, but it is more contagious and Experts are now worried that it could make our vaccines less effective in treating COVID-19 Not that they'd be useless, you know and completely unable to stop this new strain But that this new strain this new mutated version of COVID-19 Could reduce the efficacy of the vaccines and if this is the case that's a real issue now We are working with incomplete information. We don't know for a fact that this is the case But it is a real concern. So CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reports Scientists have identified an escape mutant that may decrease the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines the mutation called e484k Has been found in a variant of the coronavirus for a spot in South Africa two months ago That variant has now spread to 12 other countries Penny Moore Associate professor at the National Institute for communicable diseases in South Africa called the mutation alarming We fear this mutation might have an impact and what we don't know is the extent of the impact. She said e484k is called an escape mutant because it's been shown it might be able to escape some of the antibodies produced by the vaccine I'm worried that Alex Siggle a virologist at the Africa Health Research Institute Siggle Moore and other scientists who are studying the e484k mutation still have to complete their work in the lab to see if the Vaccine is less effective against this new variant based on what they've seen so far They say they highly doubt e484k will render the coronavirus vaccines useless Rather they think there's a possibility the mutation on its own or in combination with other mutations could decrease the Advocacy of the vaccine against the variant now if this is in fact the case which we don't know yet Then the question is how much does it decrease the efficacy? Is it by 5? 10% 15% because if that's the case then having you know a vaccine that's 80% effective is still Pretty good, but if it decreases the efficacy of these vaccines substantially Then that could be a problem But it is encouraging to see them say that they don't necessarily believe that this new mutation will make it useless So that's encouraging The problem is that you know, we at this point in time We don't know when the vaccines are going to be widely available in 2020 late 2020 we heard spring possibly summer and now seeing the rollout how many Americans have been vaccinated so far I mean I'm not that optimistic. We just have not been able to get these vaccines out to people It's been a logistical nightmare and this has been expected part of the problem is we have a president who's kind of just checked out But still it's gonna be difficult and as a result I think that folks don't want to hear this But Vox published an article with a headline that we all kind of need to hear even if it may be somewhat Discouraging quote still going to the grocery store with new virus variants spreading It's probably time to stop health experts say you should avoid optional trips whenever you can you probably need a better mask too So we've kind of learned to live with COVID-19 right we mask up when we go out and We just try to live our lives as normally as we possibly can But we have to do everything in our power to flatten the curve now especially more than ever I mean in states like California The conditions there in some LA counties are just horrific and we have to treat this as we did when we first Learned about COVID-19 being as serious as it was when we first saw that it became a pandemic But folks just aren't taking it seriously and you know It's it's troubling because if we're ever gonna get this under control and we will at some point We have to at least be somewhat serious and you know, you see a lot of folks doing a 180 In Andrew Cuomo he was never you know deserving of the praise that he received But look at the way that he's changed his tune so back in March of 2020 He tweeted out my mother is not expendable. Your mother is not expendable. We will not put a dollar figure on human life We have a public health strategy that is consistent with an economic one No one should be talking about social Darwinism for the sake of the stock market now fast forward to January 11th of 2021 And he has completely changed his tune saying we simply cannot stay closed until the vaccine hits critical mass The cost is too high. We will have nothing left to open We must reopen the economy, but we must do it smartly and safely now shout out to real Steve Cox on Twitter for pointing out those tweets Yeah This this is not what we should be hearing public officials saying now Part of the issue is that the federal government has not Acted right. They've got the power of the purse state governments can only do so much and they should be responsible and impose more lockdowns and mask mandates But there's got to be Economic relief and we just haven't seen that at an appropriate level Now when it comes to Vox's point about masks, I've actually noticed that capitalism in an attempt to profit off of COVID-19 has You know Led to a boost in sales of masks that are dog shit like I've ordered some masks online That just are completely inadequate and one way that you can check if a mask is actually worth a damn and will stop you from spreading your droplets Is to perform what's known as a candle test So if you light a candle and you wear your mask if you're able to blow out that candle with your mask on The mask isn't worth a damn you might as well throw it away But if you are unable to blow out a candle with the mask that you have that's a good mask It's gonna protect others and it's gonna protect you a little bit as well but let's get to the argument that Vox writer Julia Baluse makes because I think that what she's saying here is Really a wake-up call. She writes recent developments in the COVID-19 pandemic have exposed a grim reality If we keep doing what we're doing now to prevent infections, we're screwed. Well, even more screwed That's because the virus appears to be getting even better at infecting us since at least December New more contagious variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 have been Outcompeting earlier versions of the virus in countries as far and wide as Brazil the UK and South Africa The advantage the new variants carry seems to be that in any given situation where people are gathered They'll infect more people an estimated 30 to 70 percent more people in the case of the b117 variant first identified in Britain Which has now been identified in 50 countries even after a lockdown in the UK in November the virus ripped through the population overwhelming hospitals and forcing the government to implement even stricter stay-at-home orders by January while these variants Haven't been shown to be more deadly a more transmissible virus is actually worse in many ways than a more lethal one Cases snowball at a faster rate Harvard epidemiologist Mark lipstick said on a recent press call with a 50% rise in infectiousness For example in less than two weeks you get twice the number of cases lipstick said and in a month or so you have four Five times as many cases, but that's very approximate the case growth could be even more dramatic as Fox's Brian Razznick reported So this is concerning and I you know I'm reluctant to make videos like this because folks are gonna say look You're just being alarmist. No, I'm trying to get you to be cautious this is It's very serious and even if we've all become desensitized and we're sick and tired of the lockdown orders, you know That doesn't change The fact of reality and it sucks, but understand that we have to take this seriously If you're able to don't go to the store to buy groceries see if you know a grocery store in your area offers curbside pickup. I'm see if you can do Instacart or something like that like we just have to reduce The amount that we leave our homes because if we don't This is going to continue to spread and at this point. It just seems like normality is so far away like back in 2020 during the Christmas season. I was really Depressed because I couldn't see my family like I haven't been able to see my new great-niece who was born. I've had two Relatives getting married haven't been able to see them It's just it's really frustrating But you know what kind of kept me going was this thought that next year around this time things should be more normal We should be vaccinated and we should be on a better path But at the rate we're going with this new variant that really is in jeopardy Now, I don't know everything that we're talking about it with regard to the timeline It's all speculative because we just don't know right. We're operating with incomplete information But given what we do know about COVID-19 We now know what we need to protect ourselves and folks in our community and that is to stay home If at all possible now some of you cannot stay home, but if you can then definitely stay home And I think that the government aside from more economic relief They have to incentivize businesses to you know, allow people to work remotely. I think this is going to help And certainly anyone who does have to work if you're a retail worker and you're in fast food like you Deserve hazard pay and the fact that folks only got a hazard pay like two months into the pandemic Is ridiculous. So look, I'm not going to Talk further at this. I think we all know at this point what we need to do I'm not trying to fear monger or be overly sensationalist or alarmist I just want folks to protect themselves get a good mask and stay home If you can um And that's all you really can say at this point. Um, we're all tired. We're all tired, but um It doesn't matter if you're tired and we're we're sick of the lockdown orders There's still a pandemic