The United States will spend $1.7 billion to track variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These variants, which are more transmissible than the coronavirus that originally infected North Americans, are responsible for roughly half of current U.S. infections. The funding will help expand genomic sequencing, strengthen the bioinformatics infrastructure and establish partnerships between health departments and academic institutions. This month Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson all indicated a likely need for booster vaccines in the coming year and annual vaccination to protect people from the coronavirus. (CNBC article, 4/16/2)
