British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at a media briefing on coronavirus (COVID-19) in Downing Street on January 15, 2021 in London, England.
Dominic Lipinski | Getty Images
LONDON – There is “some evidence” that a new Covid variety first identified in the UK could be more deadly than the original species, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday.
“ We learned today that not only is it spreading faster, but there is now evidence that the new variant – the one first discovered in London and the South East (of England) – may be associated with higher mortality, ”Johnson told a news conference.
He added that all evidence suggests that the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford University, the two currently in use in the UK, remain effective against both the old and new variants of the virus.
The evidence is still in a preliminary stage and is being reviewed by the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, which is advising the UK government.
The variant, known as B.1.1.7., Has an unusually high number of mutations and is associated with a more efficient and faster transmission.
Scientists first discovered this mutation in September. The alarming variant has since been discovered in at least 44 countries, including the US, which has reported its presence in 12 states.
Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the modeled trajectory of the variant in the US “shows rapid growth in early 2021 and becomes the predominant variant in March.”