New Coronavirus Strain In UK. Will It Have Impact on Vaccine?

The New Strain of Covid-19. Why Flights From The UK Are Cancelled?

Recently, the Government of the United Kingdom has announced that the situation of pandemic is now out of control in a country. The UK administration has said that the new strain of the SARS COV-2 or Coronavirus has been detected. Reportedly, the strain has the quality of the rapid transmission among the people. Several reports have notified that it has rapid transmission risk. Along with the impact on the vaccine.

It is believed to have been first detected in September. By November, around a quarter of cases in London were of the new variant. However, by mid December, nearly two-thirds of cases in London were of the new virus.

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Countries around the glob have suspended flights to and from the UK. India also has suspended the flights. Flights from and to UK has been suspended in India from 21 December to 31 December. 

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Is New Covid-19 Strain From The UK Is More Contagious?

Last week, in South as well as East of England, the rapid surge in the Coronavirus cases was reported. The UK administration has said that the strain is named as VUI (Variant Under Investigation). 

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock - In House of Commons on 14th of December

“Over the last few days, thanks to our world-class genomic capability, we have identified a new variant of the coronavirus, which may be associated with the faster spread in the South of England.”  

Further more, the UK administration had notified about the new strain of Covid-19 to the World Health Organization. The Public Health England (PHE) said that at least 1108 cases with new variant of coronavirus were detected. These cases were in East and South of the England. the authorities have said that the PHE is investigating about the new strain.

If we have a look into the analytics, the new strain is more powerful and capable to spread the virus rapidly than the previous one. The reason behind the new strain could be more mutations (sudden change) of the spike protein of the coronavirus or SARS COV-2. 

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According to the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK), it gave a name to a new strain of  "N501Y". The new variety of virus hits to the most important protein of the human body, which is ACE2 (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2). Aftermath, there are predictions which states that the virus may become more severe. 

The epidemiologists had clarified that the new form of virus has the power to transmit easily than the older one. Also, there are no specific evidence or examples which can say that the virus may become a reason for more mortality rate.  

UK government's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) also has stated that the new virus is becoming more severe and dominant in the country. Scientists have said that the new virus may infect children more easily and rapidly. They have also stated that the new strain may dominate the country even more faster than the old one. In south of the Britain, the virus has already become more severe and dominant. 

The UK till date (22 December - 2020) has not register any death because of the new strain. The authorities is gathering more data to see the further behavior of the virus. However if we have a look at the UK authorities' statements, it also emphasized that there is “no evidence” that the variant is more likely to cause severe disease or mortality. “… But we are continuing investigations to understand this better,” it said. It said mortality is a “lagging indicator” and it will “continually monitor this over the coming weeks”.

WHO (World Health Organization) said that people can protect themselves against the strain by following usual safety protocols like wearing masks, washing hands, and maintaining social distancing. Kerkhove said during an interview with CNN on Monday that they did not anticipate any impact on the vaccination due to the strain. 

“So far we do not see any increase in disease severity or clinical picture. We are also looking at the body’s ability to fight against the new strain of the coronavirus."

Further more, the UK has strengthen the lockdown guidelines.

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Will The Vaccine Work Against The New Strain?

Viruses are known to escape immunity, that is, to beat antibodies and vaccines, the most well-known example being the seasonal flu virus. But the vaccines themselves can be updated to account for the changes, which means they continue to be effective with slight tweaks. The good news about the Pfizer, Moderna vaccines is that they can be easily altered to match up to changes in Sars-CoV-2.

Covid-19 has undergone many mutations over the year, but the appearance of the new variant in the United Kingdom has raised alarm in the country. The new variant VUI - 202012/01, also known as lineage B.1.1.7, is suspected to be the reason behind the sharp rise in cases in the country. Moreover, scientists and researchers have said that this new strain has much higher transmissibility than compared to the earlier variant as said before.

The particular deletions identified in the spike protein of B.1.1.7 have appeared in multiple other lineages of the virus at increasing frequency and are also observed in chronic infections where they may alter antigenicity – recognition by immune antibodies. These deletions may also be associated with other mutations in the binding region of the coronavirus spike protein.

Viruses often mutate, or develop small changes, as they reproduce and move through a population — something “that’s natural and expected," WHO said in a statement. 

Dr. Philip Landrigan.

"Most of the mutations are trivial. It’s the change of one or two letters in the genetic alphabet that doesn’t make much difference in the ability to cause disease."