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A virus threat advisory group has classified a mutation of the Kent COVID strain found in Bristol as a “variant of concern”.
NERVTAG, the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group, fears that the so-called Kent strain could be highly transmissible, but it could also interfere with the vaccine.
There have been 14 cases in Bristol, four cases in Manchester and another three scattered cases.
Meanwhile, a mutation identified in Liverpool has been classified as an “investigational variant”.
So far Public Health England (PHE) has identified 76 cases of these two new variants.
Despite concerns about “interference” of the Kent strain with the vaccine, the group believes that vaccinated people should be protected against serious disease caused by it and health officials have also said they have “a high degree of confidence that the vaccines will work against the variants.”
Sky’s technology correspondent Roland Manthorpe said the new mutation was “a little different” than the Kent variant, but it was basically “a variant of the variant.”
He said: “It still has the same transmissibility, but it appears that this mutation could allow it to escape immunity to some degree, which means it may be able to evade the vaccine.”
However, he emphasized that the data was still “very incomplete” and at a “very early stage” and that blocking was still the correct way to buffer the appearance of new mutations.
Currently, there are four “worrying variants” of the virus that causes COVID-19, identified by government advisers; three of them have been found in the UK.
Officials are also tracking two “variants under investigation,” which include the Bristol variant and the Brazil variant.
Test and Trace has identified 170 cases of the South African variant, including 18 cases not linked to travel.
PHE’s Dr. Susan Hopkins said in a briefing for journalists: “To date, we have identified 170 cases and 18 of them are not linked to travel, which means that they did not travel abroad or have direct contact with a person who has traveled. ” ” she said.
Over three nights, Sky News will host a series of special programs examining the UK’s response to the pandemic.
Watch COVID Crisis: Learning the Lessons at 8 pm on February 9, 10 and 11
