The coronavirus strain that hit the UK that showed signs of being highly deadly has been detected in South Africa. Scientists claim they need further research to put it up against the vaccine but already doubt its efficiency.
The Guardian reported that experts say there is no need for panic, even though the health secretary, Matt Hancock, has said he is very concerned about the latest variant of Sars-Cov-2 a coronavirus strain, which has emerged in South Africa and is said to be highly transmissible, as is the variant first seen in Kent. We wrote about the UK being affected by the new mutated strain here>>.
There have already been a few cases of infection with the South African strain in the UK.
“I’m incredibly worried about the South African variant,” said Hancock on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “That’s why we took the action that we did to restrict all flights from South Africa, and movement from South Africa, and to insist that anybody who’s been to South Africa self-isolates. This is a very, very significant problem.”
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Teams at Oxford were looking at both variants to assess whether the vaccine would protect against them. The real question at hand is whether the vaccine might be able to work.
Experts say mutations of the virus are to be expected, but that it is likely the vaccines will still work to prevent people infected with variants from becoming severely ill. However, they are watching developments in South Africa closely.
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