Genomic sequencing: A vital tool in combatting the pandemic

McKinsey April 1, 2021
Matt Craven, Ashka Davè, Laura Furstenthal, Rohit Kumar, Hrishika Vuppala

As variants of the COVID-19 virus emerge, genomic sequencing could help boost the public health response and provide the impetus to create value for future crises.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, genomic sequencing efforts, particularly in the United States, have fallen behind. While the federal government is taking measures at the national level to increase sequencing for COVID-19, it is equally important that states build on recent momentum to establish their own infrastructure to ensure a timely and precise local response to sequencing data.

The United States has sequenced 200,000 cases, whereas the United Kingdom has sequenced 350,000.¹ US states have been consistently under-sequencing, making it harder to take targeted public health action, react to variants, and efficiently...

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