CDC says U.K. coronavirus variant could become predominant strain in U.S. by March

Which means it will be spreading probably to most people before they're vaccinated.

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The U.K. variant of the coronavirus could become the predominant strain in the United States by March, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Friday.

So far, only 76 cases of the variant, called B.1.1.7, have been identified in the country, in 10 states, the CDC said.

But the latest research, which takes into account detailed analyses of scenarios that match the current trajectories of Covid-19 cases, projects that the variant could see "rapid growth" in coming months, putting further strain on the health care system.

"We are very concerned about this variant," said Michael Johansson, one of the study's authors and co-lead of the modeling team for the CDC's Covid-19 response.

Johansson cited evidence from the U.K. that the variant may spread from person to person more readily, and noted the CDC is working to increase efforts to do more testing for such variants in the U.S.

The CDC report comes as the U.S. continues to see cases surpass 200,000 each day. Thursday was the third consecutive day that more than 3,000 people died of Covid-19 in the United States, with a daily total of 3,957. Hospital systems across the country are overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients.