[ad_1]
Entry 2020.12.21 14:15 | Revision 2020.12.21 14:39
“Possibility of making quarantine difficult when a variant of the virus is introduced into Korea”
There are even concerns that the vaccine will be useless due to the outbreak of a variant of the virus in the UK, where the Pfizer Corona 19 vaccine was urgently approved and vaccination started. For this reason, there is a keen sense of domestic and foreign response to the variant of the virus.
According to the Associated Press, as of the 20th (local time), the UK is currently blocked from entering 10 countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Israel.
In continental Europe, air and land traffic routes are blocked to prevent coronavirus infection. France banned freight trucks from England, followed by all means of transport from England. The Netherlands and Germany are also returning both passenger ships and air passengers departing from the UK.
The UK Corona 19 variant virus, known as ‘VUI-202012/01’, has 70% more infectivity compared to the existing virus and can increase the reproductive rate of the infection by as much as 0.4, an indicator of how many people can transmit the disease to a confirmed patient. The main characteristic is that it spreads 70% faster than the existing virus.
Recently, 60% of new cases in London are known to have been infected with a variant of the virus. In this regard, Chris Whitty, UK Medical Director, said on 19 (local time) that “new strains are spreading faster and cases are increasing rapidly in the capital and the south-eastern regions. They have been discovered around 1,000 new strains “. . “There is no evidence yet that the new strain causes increased mortality or affects vaccines and treatments, but more testing is underway to confirm this.”
The response is also discussed at EU level. In the second half of this year, Sebastian Fisher, a spokesman and diplomat for Germany, who is the president of the EU circuit, said on the 21st that he had called an emergency meeting of member states to discuss the issue of the variant of the coronavirus. .
So far, the possibility of worsening symptoms or incapacitating the vaccine developed by the corona 19 strain is judged to be low. The World Health Organization (WHO) took a cautious position, saying: “We are aware of the COVID-19 strain that appeared in the UK, but there is no evidence yet that this strain works differently from the existing virus. It is unlikely make the vaccine useless. ”
Monsef Slawi, executive director of the US administration’s Corona 19 vaccine development program, “ Super-Speed Operation, ” said on the CNN broadcast on the 20th (local time) that it is very currently approved vaccines are unlikely to be effective against the Corona 19 variant. “I don’t think there is a single vaccine resistant strain so far,” Slawi said. “We cannot rule out that possibility, but it does not exist at this time.”
He explained that the key vaccine-related properties of the coronavirus, such as the spike protein, are highly specific to Corona 19 and less likely to cause many mutations. “Since vaccines use antibodies that resist many different regions of the spike protein, it is unlikely that they will all change,” Slawy said.
National experts agree on this. Choi Won-seok, professor of infectious medicine at Korea University Ansan Hospital, said: “There have been several Corona 19 virus mutations so far, but not at a level that serologically affects (the production of immune antibodies by vaccines) “. Said.
Professor Choi, however, predicted that as the contagious power increased due to the mutation, it could become more difficult to quarantine, and the timing of the end of Corona 19 could also have an impact. In particular, in the case of the Corona 19 variant, it is reported that the mortality rate has not decreased significantly even though the contagious power has increased, so the risk is assessed to be greater than before. In general, it is known that viral mutations increase over time, but in a way that the death rate decreases.
Professor Choi said: “The British authorities are also raising the level of quarantine because they believe that the existing quarantine measures cannot control the spread of the virus.” The British Financial Times (FT) also reported that virus strains have a 70% increase in infectivity than before, which could eventually delay the end of Corona 19.
The Korean government is also closely watching the spread of the virus variant from the UK. According to quarantine authorities, 24 people arrived from Europe last week (December 13-19), of which a foreigner from the UK entered Korea. Additionally, two of our nationals were confirmed on the 19th and 20th respectively after entering Korea from the UK.
Professor Choi emphasized the need to pay close attention to the possibility of mutation of the virus, saying: “There is always the possibility that the virus will spread in Korea, and even if it does not spread from abroad, there is a possibility that the domestic virus is mutated “.
