“We saw what happened in countries that had relatively good control of the Covid-19 epidemic, then these variants appeared and spread rapidly, and then hospitals became overwhelmed,” Medical expert Leana Wen told CNN.
Officials in Minnesota, USA announced earlier this week that they had discovered the P.1 variant in the body of a tourist from Brazil. It is one of four virus variants that are being closely watched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because they appear to be more contagious. Another variant – called B.1.1.7, first spotted in the UK – has appeared in more than 20 US states, CDC officials said.
While the US appears to be on the right track as 42 states report infection rates on a declining trend, this achievement could be dashed if new variants exist in the community, Wen said.
On January 10, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced that it had discovered a new variant of COVID-19 with a different structure from the one found in the UK and South Africa.
Leading infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci told CNN the good news is that some of the existing COVID-19 vaccines may be effective against new variants.
Pharmaceutical company Moderna said earlier this week that its vaccine produced antibodies that neutralized the COVID-19 variant that was first found in the UK and South Africa, Reuters reports. However, the company will test a new booster vaccine aimed at the South African variant after concluding that the antibody response may be reduced.
The company said in a press release that it did not see a decrease in antibody response against the variant found in the UK. For the South African variant, Moderna’s experts noticed a decrease in antibody response but still believed their two-dose regimen would work well.
The emergence of new virus variants in the UK, South Africa and Brazil has created some concern that mutations in the virus could make vaccines less effective.
Moderna President Stephen Hoge said at a conference: “Viruses won’t sit still. While our vaccines seem to block current strains well … it is important that we stay vigilant and develop potential tools and countermeasures that allow for continued push. back to pandemic ”.
Moderna said it hopes its current vaccine will maintain protection for at least a year after completing the two-dose administration.
American pharmaceutical firm Pfizer Inc and German BioNTech SE said their trials showed their vaccine was effective against the variant found in the UK, but has not revealed results for the South African variant.