The more infectious mutated novel coronavirus appeared in the UK! Does it affect the effectiveness of the vaccine?

According to comprehensive reports, the mutated novel coronavirus that has recently emerged in the UK has caused related infections in many countries, causing concern. On the 23rd local time, the British Health Minister revealed that another mutant virus was found in the country, which is more infectious.

However, WHO officials said that the virus mutation will not affect some of the novel coronavirus tests; many pharmaceutical manufacturers in the United States and Germany also expressed confidence in the vaccine developed and are currently undergoing related tests.

On December 21, local time, during the rush hour commuting in London, England, there were only a few passengers wearing masks on the subway.

Contagious or stronger!

Another mutant novel coronavirus appears in the UK

Recently, the mutation of the novel coronavirus in the UK is attracting increasing attention. On the 23rd local time, the Israeli Ministry of Health stated that four cases of mutated virus infection in the United Kingdom had been found in the country.

On the same day, British Health Secretary Matthew Hancock said that following the previous discovery of a mutant novel coronavirus, another mutant novel coronavirus was discovered in the UK. The new mutant virus is “very worrying” because it is more spreading and seems to have a deeper degree of mutation than the previous mutant virus. British experts are in-depth analysis.

According to reports, two people in the United Kingdom were infected with this new mutant virus after being in contact with travelers from South Africa. The British government has quarantined patients and their close contacts, and has imposed restrictions on travel related to South Africa. People who have been to South Africa in the past two weeks and their close contacts must be isolated immediately.

At the same time, a mutated virus discovered in South Africa is considered to be the “culprit” of the rapid spread of the country’s recent epidemic. Scientists in South Africa believe that this mutant virus may be more contagious, may have a greater impact on young people, and may be slightly more resistant to vaccines.

On December 8, local time, the United Kingdom began vaccinating the covid vaccine. Priority will be given to vaccinations for nursing home staff, people over 80, and frontline medical and social workers.

Mutated virus affects vaccine effectiveness?

Multiple drugmakers will conduct additional tests

Does the mutant virus affect the existing detection reagents?

On the 21st local time, Maria Van Kokhoff, the technical director of the WHO Health Emergency Project, said that some mutations of the virus appeared in the spike protein. At present, most detection tools target multiple targets in the gene sequence. Affect this type of detection. However, a small number of tests only target a single target on the viral gene sequence. Such tests may be affected by virus mutation.

So, will the mutant virus affect the effectiveness of the vaccine?

In this regard, American drugmakers Pfizer and Modena, and German biopharmaceutical company CureVac, etc. stated that the vaccine they developed should be sufficient to effectively deal with the variant virus strains emerging in the UK. Related tests are currently underway and results will be available within a few weeks.

The British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca also said that it is investigating the impact of the virus mutation, but the company does not believe that the effectiveness of the vaccine will be affected.

However, as well as the issue of vaccine effectiveness, there is also the issue of vaccine safety. On the 23rd local time, the New York City Health Department issued a statement stating that a medical staff in New York City had a serious adverse reaction after being vaccinated with the covid vaccine.

Previously, medical staff in Alaska and Tennessee in the United States were exposed to adverse reactions after being vaccinated with the covid vaccine jointly developed by the United States and German companies. Officials from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said that they would conduct research on this.