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The new variant of the coronavirus responsible for covid-19 detected in the south-east of the United Kingdom, although it is more easily transmissible, should not reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine.
“As far as is known, it is unlikely to affect the effectiveness of the vaccine, as long as it does not interfere with the corona antigen, the antigen that stimulates the immune reaction,” said the former director of the Directorate General of Health and current member. from the National Council of Public Health Constantino Sakellarides, to the Lusa agency.
“All this is subject to reservation, because the information we have is scarce, but as long as there is no interference with this antigen, there is no reason to think that the vaccine will still not work for this new variant,” said Constantino Sakellarides.
British authorities have already alerted the World Health Organization (WHO) to the discovery of the new variant, which spreads faster.
For the public health specialist, this fact means that this variant of the coronavirus is “better adapted to the human species” and, therefore, “requires more care in the control of person-to-person transmission.”
“This can already be seen in the United Kingdom, because measures have been taken to try everything possible to limit its expansion to the whole of the United Kingdom. There is a clear concern about taking more intense measures to prevent its transmission,” he stressed.
The professor at the National School of Public Health maintains that “it is necessary to know more about how this variant will evolve.”
“These are the first observations that exist, but we need to know more to be able to estimate the scope of the implications it will have in controlling the pandemic,” he said.
For now, it is still necessary “to defend ourselves at all costs until the vaccine reaches a substantial part of the population.”
“The defense measures against this variant are of the same type as those that have been adopted so far. Simply, if this new variant expands quickly, when it appears, as the transmission is easier, you have to redouble your attention. pending the level of group immunity that the vaccine will provide ”, concludes Constantino Sakellarides.
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