LONDON – The dominant coronavirus variant in the UK is becoming increasingly resistant to vaccines, scientific experts have warned.
Two leading scientists in the UK warned Wednesday that the variant of the virus first identified in Kent has acquired the same E484K mutation on its spike protein that makes the South African variant. so worrying for experts.
Public health authorities are keeping a close eye on two emerging UK variants. The first of these two home-grown varieties has been found mainly in Bristol and the South West, where experts have confirmed 15 cases, and another six in other parts of England. The second variant is located in Liverpool and the northwest, with a cluster of 42 confirmed cases.
Sharon Peacock, Executive Director and Chair of the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK), told POLITICO in an interview that this is a ‘major concern’ because such mutation has been associated with vaccine immunity and reinfection in South Africa.
“Our home-grown variant develops that mutation on numerous occasions, probably through a process of natural selection,” she said. “If the virus gets benefits from a particular mutation, it will probably persist in the population and spread. That is becoming a major concern in the country. “
At a press conference in Downing Street on Wednesday, Patrick Vallance, the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, said “it is not surprising” that the Kent variety has evolved this way and will happen elsewhere.
“Getting that variant slightly increases the chances of it looking different from the immune system, so we have to pay attention to it,” Vallance said. “We need to stay informed and continue to test the vaccine effects in that situation.”
Peacock said the UK government’s approach to border controls, which will become tougher starting Monday, is generally ‘good’ because post-arrival human testing, as well as genome sequencing of positive cases, will allow the UK to understand how the virus can mutate in other parts of the world.
But she warned that strict border controls will not fully protect the British people because “there is a chance that variants will emerge in the UK that have nothing to do with border control”, as is happening in Bristol.
Helping others
The consortium led by Peacock provides whole-genome sequencing from coronavirus samples to the National Health Service and the UK government. British experts are currently sequencing 27,000 genomes per week, but this figure will continue to grow, she said, as British experts also share their tools and data to increase the capacity of other countries.
Peacock said a total of 26 countries in Asia, Europe and Africa have so far engaged in the UK’s work, although she declined to name any. “The building blocks for doing sequencing are out there in many places that have enough resources,” she said.
The consortium chairman added, “It’s a matter of how you network, and that really has to do with collaboration and collaboration, and putting the whole system together from patient to test and to sequence generation and then back to public health. That is quite a complicated matter to put together. “
The entire sequencing process, from the time a COVID-19 patient is tested to the sequence data being interpreted, currently takes about five days at the SANGER Institute in Cambridge and slightly longer at regional laboratories. “We are currently constantly working on our turnaround time,” said Peacock. “For an effective outbreak investigation, you really need to have the test within 36 hours to answer,” she said.
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