 So last week on the program, we talked about a story that was actually pretty alarming. So scientists were concerned that this new variant of COVID-19 would decrease the efficacy of vaccines, not make them useless, but just make them less effective. Now this wasn't confirmed. We didn't know by how much if it did, in fact, decrease the efficacy of vaccines. However, according to one study, we are learning that at least when it comes to the Pfizer and Biontech vaccine, that is not the case. It does not decrease the efficacy of that vaccine. So as Sam Meredith of CNBC reports, the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and Biontech is likely to be just as effective against a highly transmissible mutant strain of the virus that was discovered in the UK according to a study by the two companies. The variant known as B117 was estimated to have first emerged in the UK in September. It has an unusually high number of mutations and is associated with more efficient and rapid transmission. The characteristics of the variant had led to concerns about the effectiveness of COVID vaccines against it. However, research published on pre-print server BioR14 showed no biologically significant difference in neutralization activity between the laboratory tests on B117 and the original strain of the coronavirus. The study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, found that all of the mutations associated with the newly discovered variant were neutralized by antibodies in the blood of 16 participants who had previously been given the vaccine. So there's a couple of caveats. It's a relatively small sample size. And the studies, you know, Pfizer and Biontech, they're the ones doing a study of their own vaccines. So we do need it to be peer reviewed to know for sure just so that way there's that separation there and a guarantee of impartiality. But this is really, really good news and we're getting it quickly. Like I was worried that it would take months for us to determine whether or not the vaccines would hold up against this new strain, but we're learning right away that it doesn't actually make a difference. This is everything. This is huge because if it were the case that this new variant actually did decrease the efficacy of vaccines, this means that it would take much longer to get the virus under control. And it really kind of made me feel depressed, you know, because to think that we finally get a vaccine and now that's undermined by this mutation, it just seems like when is it ever going to end? We see the light at the end of the tunnel and then all of a sudden it vanishes. But now, no, this is absolutely phenomenal news. So I just wanted to give you all an update because I want to give you like the overall picture of what's happening with regard to COVID-19. I don't want folks to only see like the doom and gloom side. I do want you to see that there is some good news. I mean, currently we're in a really bad place with deaths, with how many people are catching the virus, although thankfully it's starting to decrease, although we're still at really alarming levels in most states. But you know, we are at a place where there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it's getting brighter and it's not dimming. Thankfully, this new strain is still going to be taken care of mostly by the vaccine. So I just had to share because this is absolutely phenomenal news. And certainly, you know, I'm breathing a sigh of relief after reading this story.