The newly identified variants, which appear to be significantly more contagious than the strain that emerged in China in 2019, are as rising virus numbers are forcing many countries to enforce new lockdowns.
The committee normally meets every three months, but WHO said the Director General pulled the meeting forward “to discuss issues that need to be discussed urgently”.
“These are the recent variants and usage considerations [of] vaccination and testing certificates for international travel, “the global organization said Wednesday.
Mutations in Sars-CoV-2 are a cause for concern among scientists trying to find out if they will respond to vaccines.
One mutation in particular, discovered initially in South Africa and subsequent variants in Brazil and Japan, has alarmed researchers studying the variant, known as 501Y.V2, to determine whether current vaccines will be effective.
Experts say the vaccines will most likely still work against the new variants. Studies are underway to confirm, but those experiments take time.
Professor of infectious diseases at the University of Cape Town, Marc Mendelson, told ABC News that it is still unclear whether the South African variant is really more contagious. Studies to date suggest that people infected with this variant have an increase in viral load, which is likely to increase that person’s ability to transmit to others, both in South Africa and the UK, that a has a separate variant that also carries the same mutation at position 501 in the spike protein, ” Mendelson, who is also the head of the Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine department at Groote in Cape Town’s Schuur Hospital, told ABC News.
Mendelson said there is a lot of urgent work underway to study the mutation and he hopes there will be some answers in the coming weeks. “The most pressing question is whether the mutations in the variant will affect the vaccine response. Then there is the question of whether the variant is associated with a more serious disease? I don’t see evidence of that on the ground (in my hospital), but subtle differences. need a lot of data to pick it up, so that’s anecdotal evidence.
A preliminary study found that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine appears to work against the mutated virus, but more studies are needed as the South African variant has a number of additional mutations, including changes in some of the virus’ spike protein .
According to Mendelson, the spike protein is not only vital for virus entry, but is also where antibodies are targeted that humans produce to control the viral infection. Simply put, these antibodies neutralize the virus by binding to specific sequences of the spike protein, preventing it from binding to a receptor on our cells and thus preventing the virus from entering cells. The cause for concern is again a number of mutations in the genetic code of the virus that carries the variant.The resulting changes in the structure of the spike protein could reduce the binding of antibodies to their recognition sites and thereby reduce the ability of our immune system to prevent the virus from entering and retaining the cells. “
According to the WHO, the South African identified tribe has been found in 20 countries, territories and areas after it was first reported to the WHO on Dec. 18.
“From preliminary and ongoing studies in South Africa, it is possible that the 501Y.V2 variant is more transmissible than variants previously circulating in South Africa,” the agency’s weekly report said.
“In addition, although this new variant does not appear to cause more serious disease, the observed rapid increase in cases has put a strain on health systems.” The geographic distribution of both variants is likely underestimated, according to the WHO.
Fears about the increased transferability of the new variants are leading to new lockdowns and additional measures to contain COVID-19.
However, the South African strain is more of a concern because of an additional mutation that scientists are on the alert, one called E484K, which may make certain vaccines less effective.
The WHO also noted that a third new coronavirus variant “of concern”, found in Japan, needs further investigation.
“The more the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads, the more opportunities it has to change. High levels of transmission mean we should expect more variants to emerge,” the WHO said. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. Viruses constantly undergo minor changes as they spread from person to person.
More than 90 million COVID-19 infections have been recorded worldwide since the cases first appeared in December 2019. The pandemic death toll is approaching two million people.