Scientists are not fully confident that COVID-19 vaccines will work on a new version of the coronavirus found in South Africa, an ITV political editor said Monday, citing an unnamed scientific adviser to the British government.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said earlier Monday he was deeply concerned about the new variant. Public Health England did not respond to telephone calls seeking comment on the report.
The coronavirus vaccine
(Photo: AFP)
“According to one of the government’s scientific advisers, the reason for Matt Hancock’s ‘incredible concern’ about the South African Covid-19 variant is that they are not so confident that the vaccines will be as effective against it as they would like. change the UK, “ITV political editor Robert Peston said.
Both Britain and South Africa have detected new strains of the coronavirus in recent months that have led to an increase in case numbers.
Scientists say that the new South African variant is different from others circulating in the country in that it has several mutations in the important “spike” protein used by the virus to take up human cells.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock will deliver a report on coronavirus infection
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It has also been associated with higher viral load, resulting in higher concentrations of virus particles in patients ’bodies, possibly contributing to higher transmission rates.
John Bell, a professor of regius medicine at Oxford University who sits on the government’s vaccine action group, said on Sunday that he thought vaccines would work on the British difference but said it was “a big question mark” in which he worked at the southern African Variety.
He told Times Radio that if the vaccine did not work on the South African version the scenery could change and it would not take a year.
“It could take a month or six weeks to get a new vaccine,” he said.