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A NEW variant of Covid from New York arrived in the UK after health chiefs detected three cases.
Experts fear that the new variant, called B.1.526, may have a mutation that could weaken the effectiveness of vaccines.
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But Public Health England says the three cases found in the UK for the first time do not contain the worrisome mutation.
Many New Years B.1.526 cases have been found to contain a mutation called E484K.
This has also been seen in South Africa and Brazil, and is believed to help the virus partially bypass vaccines.
It makes it difficult for the immune system to recognize by changing the shape of the virus’s outer tip protein.
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Meera Chand, PHE Incident Director for COVID-19, said: “Public Health England is aware of three cases in the UK of the SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.526 that was first detected in New York.
“None of these cases have the E84K or S477N mutations that are present in some variants of concern.
“PHE is monitoring the situation closely.”
“We are working with partners around the world to identify and mitigate the impact of variants as they emerge.”
‘MATTER OF CONCERN’
A virologist at the University of Warwick believes the variant is a “cause for concern.”
Professor Lawrence Young told MailOnline: “This finding reinforces how important it is to keep an eye on things, we are not out of the woods yet.
“It reinforces the fact that while things are looking really good right now, there is no room for complacency.
“We need to keep Test and Trace running and end what will inevitably be local outbreaks.”
Several other European countries have reported cases of the variant.
Ireland has registered five, Croatia has seen three and Germany has had one.
Meanwhile, in the United States there have been 2,565 cases so far.
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Researchers from Columbia University sequenced more than 1,000 samples from Covid patients in New York at their medical center.
They found that 12 percent of people with the virus had been infected with the variant containing the E484K mutation.
The study showed that patients who were infected with the virus carrying this mutation were on average about six years older and more likely to have been hospitalized.
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