LONDON (Reuters) – Public Health England (PHE) on Thursday said a new coronavirus variant had been identified in the UK in two people recently in Antigua, adding that it shared some features of others, but that it would not be categorized for now.
The health authority said the variant, known as VUI-202103/01 (pedigree B.1.324.1), was identified on March 4 as a variant being investigated after two cases were found in the South East of England in individuals recently referred to Traveled to Antigua. .
“The variant contains the peak mutations E484K and N501Y, which are commonly associated with Variants of Concern (VOC), but it does not contain specific deletions that could lead to a designation as VOC,” PHE said in a statement.
The variants are mutant versions of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, which has already killed more than 2.7 million people in the pandemic.
While scientists say mutations in viruses are unavoidable, COVID-19 variants of concern, such as those first identified in South East England, South Africa and Brazil, have worrying changes that offer the virus benefits, such as increased transmissibility or reducing the effectiveness of vaccines. .
The E484K mutation of the ear protein has been seen in South African and Brazilian variants, and occurred spontaneously in the British variant and is associated with lower vaccine efficacy. The N501Y mutation is associated with high portability.
PHE also said that four more cases of the P.1 variant, which was first found in northern Brazil and had the E484K and N501Y mutations, had been identified in England.
That brings the total number identified in Britain to ten, PHE said, adding that they all have links with direct travel from Brazil or to a previously confirmed case that traveled to Brazil.
Reporting by Alistair Smout, edited by William James