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The strain has witnessed multiple mutations in its tip protein, through which the virus enters the human body and on which vaccines act; Scientists say the variant can make vaccines less effective.
Even as the world is trying to recover after a deadly pandemic left more than 2 million of its population dead, the variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus emerging in different countries have been of concern to both governments and the scientists. .
While three main and infectious variants of the virus have so far been discovered in the UK, Brazil and South Africa, the latest known as 20H / 501Y.V2 or B.1.351 is considered more contagious than the earlier variant that triggered the pandemic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that new variants that are more infectious than the original virus may not allow the vaccine and antibodies to work effectively.
Related news: The COVID variant may already be present in many countries, says a WHO scientist
The South African variant is said to be more contagious or around 50 percent more infectious than previous variants, as it has shown multiple mutations, mainly in its spike protein, from where the virus enters the human body. It is also the peak protein that vaccines target. A report in The Guardian said the N501Y mutation makes the South African variant more contagious than older ones. The E484K and K417N mutations, on the other hand, help the virus to escape the body’s antibody responses.
The variant that was reported in December 2020 has spread to around 40 countries so far.
Novavax COVID vaccine trials found that the vaccine was 95.6% effective when applied against the original COVID-19 strain and 85.6% against the UK variant, while it was only 60% effective against the South African variant. .
However, there is no evidence that the South African variant can cause serious illness among those affected.
Related news: South Africa reports new variant of COVID-19
While there is no evidence yet that the approved COVID-19 vaccines do not work in the new variant, one BBC The report citing the experts said the vaccines can be redesigned to be applicable to the mutated virus in the worst case scenario.
