Is It True That the New Variants Are Very Dangerous?

Rosemary Frei, MSc, explores the main scientific papers that were used to suggest that the new variants are highly contagious.
Her full article was first posted here: rosemaryfrei.ca/laying-out-the-evidence/

Links to material cited in video, in the order in which they appear and/or are mentioned in the video:
- Jan. 26, 2021 Globe and Mail article theglobeandmail.com/world/article-british-researchers-urge-government-to-take-uk-variant-data-seriously/
- Sept. 25, 2020, Science - Hongjing Gu et al. - ‘Adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 in BALB/c mice for testing vaccine efficacy’ science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6511/1603/tab-pdf
- Dec. 21, 2020, bioRχiv - Kui K. Chan et al. – ‘An engineered decoy receptor for SARS-CoV-2 broadly binds protein S sequence variants’ - biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.18.344622v2
- June 17, 2020 - bioRχiv – Tyler N. Starr, Allison Greaney, et al. ‘Deep mutational scanning of SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain reveals constraints on folding and ACE2 binding’ - biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.17.157982v1.full.pdf and Cell Sept. 3, 2020 - cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0092-8674(20)31003-5
- Aug. 13, 2020 – Hutch News Stories (a news page on Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center website) – Jake Siegel - ‘What happens if the coronavirus’s spikes mutate?’ - fredhutch.org/en/news/center-news/2020/06/coronavirus-spike-protein-mutations.html
- Nov. 13, 2020 – medRχiv – Antonin Bal, et al. ‘Screening of the H69 and V70 deletions in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein with a RT-PCR diagnosis assay reveals low prevalence in Lyon, France’ - medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.10.20228528v1
- Dec. 23, 2020 – Public Health England - ‘Investigation of novel SARS-CoV-2 variant. Variant of Concern 202012/01’ - cmmid.github.io/topics/covid19/reports/uk-novel-variant/2020_12_23_Transmissibility_and_severity_of_VOC_202012_01_in_England.pdf
- Dec. 23, 2020 – medRχiv - Nicholas G. Davies, et al. ‘Estimated transmissibility and severity of novel SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern 202012/01 in England. cmmid.github.io/topics/covid19/reports/uk-novel-variant/2020_12_23_Transmissibility_and_severity_of_VOC_202012_01_in_England.pdf
- Dec. 31, 2020 – Erik Volz et al. - ‘Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Lineage B.1.1.7 in England: Insights from linking epidemiological and genetic data’ - imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/mrc-gida/2020-12-31-COVID19-Report-42-Preprint-VOC.pdf and medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.30.20249034v2
- Jan. 7, 2021 – Public Health Ontario – Synopsis - ‘Review of “Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Lineage b.1.17. In England: nsights from linking epidemiological and genetic data”’ - nsights from linking epidemiological and genetic data’ - publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/ncov/research/2021/01/research-transmission-sars-cov-2-england-epi-genetic-data.pdf?la=en
- Dec. 22, 2020 - medRχiv – Houriiyah Tegally et al. ‘Emergence and rapid spread of a new severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) lineage with multiple spike mutations in South Africa’ - medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.21.20248640v1
- Jan. 20, 2021 – medRχiv – Alastair Grant and Paul R. Hunter - ‘Immunisation, asympatomatic infection, herd immunity and the new variants of COVID 19’ - medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.16.21249946v1
- Jan. 28, 2021 – National Post – Portugal – U.K. Variant Driving Deadly Third Wave’ -
medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.10.20228528v1.full
- main basis for officials saying B.1.1.7 variant is more deadly: minutes of the Jan. 21, 2021 meeting of an influential UK committee called NERVTAG (New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group). There, they cite modeling papers which haven’t yet been published – meaning there’s no way to check those papers to see what they say. app.box.com/s/3lkcbxepqixkg4mv640dpvvg978ixjtf/folder/111416414559