The new highly contagious variant of COVID-19, called B.1.1.7, has reached the state this week, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
State Rep. Jon Santiago, who is also an emergency room physician at Boston Medical Center, spoke to Boston Public Radio on Tuesday about what the arrival of the variant means for residents.
"Although there was a glimmer of hope from the vaccination coming, I think we're in for a rough three or four months," he said. "This variant is upwards of 50 percent more transmissible, but the good thing is that in terms of how lethal it is, there doesn't seem to be a difference," he said.
Santiago predicts that we'll see more cases due to the extra contagious variant.
"It's predicted that by March this will be the dominant strain in Massachusetts and across the country," he said. "So we are literally in a race against the variant and how quickly we can vaccinate people."
