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Professor John Bell of the University of Oxford (UK) said that the new variant of the corona virus in South Africa is more worrisome than in the UK – Photo: PA
Talking to radio Times Radio On January 3, Bell said that the new variant of the corona virus in South Africa is more of a concern than the British variant because it is easy to spread and spread faster.
South Africa discovered a new variant of the corona virus before Christmas, called it 501.V2.
Experts emphasize that there is no evidence that this new variant is more lethal, but the number of people with COVID-19 in South Africa tripled in three weeks and surpassed one million cases of COVID-19. last week, according to the channel France24.
He also discovered 2 cases of the 501.V2 variant in the country on December 23, 2020, both returning from South Africa. Professor Bell stated that “no data” showed that the 501.V2 variant in South Africa is more dangerous than the VUI-202012/01 variant in the UK, it just makes it “more infectious” only.
“Both variants have many mutations. However, the variant mutations in South Africa have significant variation in protein structure,” Bell said.
Professor Bell says that there is still no definitive answer on whether the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines will be effective against the South African variant. “These mutations are unlikely to completely lose the efficacy of the vaccine. I think it will still have an effective part,” added the Oxford University professor.
Bell reassured everyone by saying that a new vaccine targeting a South African variant could be produced quickly, in as little as 4-6 weeks, if needed. “Everyone should calm down because everything will be fine” – assured Professor Bell.
