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London is under strict confinement measures for a new “variant” of the coronavirus that was confirmed in southern Britain, however, little is known about this “mutation”, which would be spreading the most fast according to British Health Minister Matt Hancock.
On Saturday British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that London and South East England they will return to confinement Starting this Sunday, to try to stop the advance of coronavirus infections, attributable to a new strain.
To Saturday, 1,000 people were infected with this mutation.
What is known about this mutation?
The first thing the British authorities pointed out is that this strain it wouldn’t be more deadly, but it would be transmitted more easily.
“Nothing indicates that it is more deadly or causing a more severe form of the disease, “Johnson said Saturday when he reported the new quarantines.
This strain, added the prime minister, can be up to 70% more transmissible than the previous variant, data that would be initial, so it remains subject to review, according to the BBC.
Of the new infections in London, added the media, the 60% would correspond to this new variant.
Deutsche Welle also refers to this issue, noting that the human body adapts to virus mutations, but that the antibodies are not necessarily as effective, since they were programmed for a “earlier version”.
However, the call is not to panic, as this mutation does not necessarily mean that it becomes more dangerous. Some mutations can even weaken a virus.
In fact, what happens in Great Britain is not new, since a similar situation was detected a few months ago in Asia, where the variant of SARS-CoV-2 caused less severe infections.
In the case of the rapid spread of this strain in London, it would be explained because it presents several mutations in the “Coronavirus tip protein”. This means that it is missing two amino acids, which would facilitate propagation.
And the vaccine?
Another question that arises is what about the coronavirus vaccine, especially now that it is beginning to be applied in various parts of the world.
The mutation does not render the vaccines ineffective, since they are all designed to “encode the information of the coronavirus spike protein, so that stimulate our immune system despite the mutation “I sign DW.
This means that the effectiveness of the vaccines, including the one from Pfizer / BioNTech that will soon arrive in Chile, would continue to work despite the new strain.
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