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“I am extremely concerned about the South African variant of the virus,” UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock told BBC radio on Monday, citing a conversation with his South African counterpart over the Christmas holidays. – They understand that they are facing a serious problem because, like us, they have excellent scientific experience in the genome field to be able to study the details of the virus. And this strain is an even bigger problem than the latest version of the virus in the UK. “
The South African version of the virus has led to an increase in infections in the country and, like the UK strain, appears to be more contagious than previous mutations.
However, there is no evidence yet that the COVID-19 vaccines approved to date are not effective against the new strains. To say that the South African strain of the virus poses a bigger problem than the UK variant is now “political rather than science,” said Richard Lessels, an infectious disease specialist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).
Scientists must first conduct the necessary experiments to understand new versions of the virus, he said. So far, officials have provided little evidence to support the idea that the South African strain is more problematic than the new strain first detected in the UK, where the scale of cases is also growing.
“Obviously, the effectiveness of the vaccine is one of the most important questions that arise when these new versions of the virus are detected, and we understand that everyone wants to hear the answers immediately,” Lessels said. “But it will take some time before we have the answers.”
The vaccines are likely still effective against the UK variant of the coronavirus, while questions remain about the South African version, John Bell, an Oxford professor who works with the UK government on the UK’s vaccine program, told Times Radio. country, Sunday. Mutations are unlikely to completely “turn off” effective vaccines, Bell said.
“We have room to maneuver because I think vaccines work much better than any of us imagine,” he said. We definitely have room for maneuver. Even if they operate at 20%. weaker due to the mutation, we would still have good vaccines. “
Cat and mouse game
Even if the new variants of the virus were resistant to vaccines, it was “entirely possible” to adapt and develop new vaccines if necessary, possibly within six weeks, Bellas said. – Now we are like playing cat and mouse. These are not the only two variants of the virus that we will face. “
People under the age of 20 are likely to be most affected by the new strain of the virus in the UK on December 31. Researchers from Imperial College London said in a preliminary analysis published in 2006.
It’s too early to say why such a case is likely, perhaps because the investigation was conducted at a time when more adults were staying home due to the introduced quarantine and schools were open, the researchers noted.
Medical researchers in South Africa are conducting research to determine the clinical impact of a new strain of coronavirus found in that country, said Glenda Gray, president of the South African Medical Research Council.
South African doctors have unofficial data that the new strain is severely affecting more young people without any other comorbidity, the country’s health minister, Zwell Mkhize, said in December.
There is no evidence that the South African variant of the virus is more contagious or causes a more severe form of the disease than the UK strain, Mkhize said in a statement on December 24. The two variants of the virus evolved independently of each other, and there is evidence that the UK strain originated earlier than the South African strain, Mkhize said.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), preliminary research suggests that a variant of the South African virus may be associated with a higher viral load than previously circulating viruses in the area, although that theory is still being investigated.
December 30 data, this variant of the virus has been detected in four more countries. The UK variant has been found in a much wider area, with reports of this variety coming from 31 other countries, territories and areas of the world.
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