(CNN) Researchers studying the new UK strain of the coronavirus think it likely arrived in the US in mid-November, and that many people in the United States could already be infected. Both scientists, as well as others around the world, have scoured genetic sequences of coronavirus in the United States to see if any match up with the UK variant. "It could be in the United States, and we might not have yet detected it," Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brett Giroir said Monday. On its website, the CDC notes that of about 275,000 full-genome sequences in public databases, 51,000 are from the United States, and 125,000 are from the UK. They also say that at this point, it looks like the vaccine will still work against the UK variant.

Source: CNN December 22, 2020 23:48 UTC