Contact tracing is largely gone. I think and i believe that we should be treating every case as if its a variant during this pandemic right now. The good news according to dr. Anthony fauci is Johnson Johnsons new singledose vaccine could help get more people vaccinated and prevent severe disease and hospitalizations as the virus continues to mutate and replicate. We have now a valueadded additional vaccine candidate. This is a singleshot vaccine in which you start to see efficacy anywhere from 7 to 10 days. It is inexpensive and the company is capable of making doses in the numbers of billions. Joining me now nbc news chief White House Correspondent and Weekend Today cohost Kristen Welker. Dr. Celine gounder, a member of bidens Advisory Board during the transition. And patrice harris, former president of the american medical association. Kristen, how difficult is it proving for the biden team with such a short transition, if any, to get their arms around the shortage of doses and the
We have a ton of developments today in the Coronavirus Vaccine situation. What we do know is encouraging in many waysramping up vaccine production. What we dont know about the effectiveness is terrifying. It makes you wonder if the u. S. Needs to dramatically rethink the current Vaccine Distribution strategy. Lets start with the good news. Today johnson and johnson leased some promising data from its phase three clinical trials. The vaccine is 72 effective in the u. S. At preventing moderate to severe illness. Experts consider that a strong level of protection. Here is the potential worrying news. The company disclosed the data suggests the vaccine was less effective against the South Africa Covid Variant we have been dropping. Effectiveness dropped from 72 to 57 . Its called that because it was south africa was the first place it was found which is more contagious and resistant to the vaccines we have. Its already in the United States and appears to be spreading. The more contagious u