The U.S. has been flying blind in the race between vaccination efforts and the spread of new coronavirus variants that could potentially spark another deadly nationwide surge and reduce effectiveness of the vaccines. U.S. public health officials have been operating with incomplete information because of an inadequate viral genomics surveillance system. When the U.K. variant first emerged, the viral surveillance system in the U.S. was woefully lacking in resources, especially compared with other countries. Pierce noted that one area that needs immediate attention is the sequencing of every "breakthrough case," which are cases in which people get infected even though...