Medical personnel work in a mobile testing unit in Ekurhuleni.
Photographer: Luca Sola / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Luca Sola / AFP / Getty Images
The new strain of coronavirus emerging in South Africa is even more problematic than a mutated form that led to fresh lockdowns across much of the UK, health authorities said Monday.
“I am incredibly concerned about the South African variant,” British Health Minister Matt Hancock said on BBC radio Monday, referring to a conversation over the Christmas holidays with his colleague in South Africa. “One of the reasons they know they have a problem is because, like us, they have excellent genomic science capabilities to study the details of the virus. And it’s even more of a problem than the new UK variant. “
The South African variant is causing a wave of infections in the country, and like the British strain, it appears to be more contagious than previous mutations. Still, there is no evidence yet that the Covid-19 vaccines approved so far will not work against the new strains.
To say that the South African species is more problematic than the British variety is “more political than science,” said Richard Lessells, an infectious disease specialist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Researchers must first do the experiments necessary to understand the new variants, he said. So far, officials have provided little evidence to support the idea that the South African species is more problematic than the new one first identified in the UK, where cases are also on the rise.
“The efficacy of the vaccine is clearly one of the big questions arising from discovering these new variables, and we understand that everyone wants immediate answers,” Lessells said. “But it takes some time to get the answers.”
Shots will likely still be effective against the UK variant of the coronavirus, while questions remain about the South African version, John Bell, an Oxford professor who is working on the vaccine program with the UK government, told Times Sunday. Radio. It is unlikely that the mutations would completely “turn off” the effective vaccines, Bell said.
“We have a little bit of headroom because the vaccines, I think, work a lot better than we thought they would,” he said. “We do have some room for maneuver. If they were 20% less effective because of a mutation, we would still have good vaccines. “
‘Cat and Mouse’
Even if the new variants could bypass the vaccines, “it’s perfectly possible” to adapt and make new ones, possibly within six weeks, if necessary, Bell said. “We are now in a game of cat and mouse. These are not the only two variants we will see. “
Young people under the age of 20 may also be more affected by the new British variant, researchers at Imperial College London said in a statement preliminary analysis published December 31. It’s too early to say why this could be the case, and the results may have been affected by the lockdown keeping more adults at home, but the schools were open, they said.
South African medical scientists are designing studies to determine the clinical impact of the new variant of the coronavirus in that country, said Glenda Gray, chair of the South African Medical Research Council.
South African doctors have seen anecdotal evidence that more young people with no pre-existing conditions are becoming seriously ill with the new version, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said last month.
There is no evidence that the South African variant is more transmissible or causes more serious disease than the British variant, Mkhize said in a statement Dec. 24. The two varieties developed independently, and there is evidence that the British strain predates the South African variety. , Mkhize said.
Initial research shows that the South African variant may be associated with a higher viral load than the viruses previously circulating in the area, according to the World Health Organization, although this is still under investigation. By December 30, the variant had been reported in four other countries. The UK variant has been found more widely, with reports covering 31 other countries, territories and territories around the world.
Read more: Why the mutated coronavirus in the UK is causing concern: QuickTake
– With the help of Antony Sguazzin
(Updates with commentary from scientist in the fourth paragraph, WHO in last paragraph)