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A new strain of COVID-19, which was discovered in the UK, has a higher spread rate than the already known version, but researchers fear it could cause more serious problems. Scientists are therefore making urgent efforts to confirm whether the newly discovered strain does not cause a higher death rate, as Chris Whitty, head of medical services in England, said on Saturday, cited by Reuters.
“As announced on Monday, the UK has identified a new variant of COVID-19,” Whitty said in a press release, according to the cited source.
According to him, although there is no current evidence that the new coronavirus variant causes a higher mortality rate or affects the effectiveness of vaccines, the British authorities are working urgently to confirm this data, so that there are no more problems.
“We have alerted the World Health Organization and we continue to analyze available data to improve our understanding,” the British official said in a statement.
The new strain is much faster
The British government said on Monday that an increase in infections in London and the south-east of England could be linked to a new, more transmissible version of the virus. The UK reported 28,507 new COVID-19 cases and 489 deaths on Friday, with an estimated reproduction rate “R” between 1.1 and 1.2, meaning the number of cases is growing rapidly.
On the other hand, the United Kingdom is the first European country to launch a national vaccination program against the new coronavirus. According to the London authorities, in the first phase 800,000 doses of the vaccine produced by BioNTech and Pfizer will be administered.
The UK was the first country in the world to urgently approve the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine and bought 40 million doses to immunize the population. The decision was made as a matter of urgency given that the United Kingdom is the European country with the most victims of COVID-19. More than 61,000 people infected by the new coronavirus have died in the UK.
