WINONA, Minn. – Public health and medical people in Winona are confident that they can address the ultra-transmissible United Kingdom variant CoVid virus, the chief executive at Winona Health said. The U.K. variant showed up in Minnesota over the weekend, although not yet in Winona. In an interview on radio station KWNO, Rachelle Schultz said that currently available Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are expected to be effective against the variant. She expressed concern, however, that that fast-spreading U.K. variant might accelerate CoVid infections that have been expected to grow soon because of Christmas and New Year’s travel and gatherings. “If there are more gatherings, this one could be transmitted a lot more quickly,” Shultz said. Early detection, masking and other precautions remain important, she said.
