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The new variant “has spread throughout the country” and “in all likelihood will spread throughout the world,” a Cambridge University microbiologist said in a statement to the BBC Newscast podcast.
The British mutation, first detected in the county of Kent in southeastern England in September 2020, is already present in more than 50 countries around the world.
“What really concerns us at the moment is its ability to spread. Once we know that the virus or mutates to lose its infectivity, we no longer have to worry about it. But looking ahead, I think we will be busy sequencing in years to come. We will do this for at least another 10 years, “he added.
Current vaccines have been developed based on older versions of the coronavirus, but scientists believe that they are also effective against new mutations. According to Peacock, vaccines approved for distribution in the UK appear to work well against variants of the virus that exist in the country.
Covid-19 Genomics is a network of UK public health organizations and laboratories currently testing around 30,000 positive coronavirus tests per day. The goal is to genetically analyze all positive coronavirus tests.
Cover image: Getty Images
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