Evidence of a new Covid variant associated with higher mortality

LONDON – There is evidence that a new Covid variant first identified in the UK could be more deadly than the original strain, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday.

“We have been informed today that, in addition to faster distribution, it also appears that there is evidence that the new variant – the variant first discovered in London and the south-east (of England) – may be associated with a higher mortality, ”Johnson told a news conference.

He added that all the evidence suggests that the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford University, the two currently used in the UK, remain effective against the old and new variants of the virus.

The evidence is still at a preliminary stage and is being reviewed by the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, which advises the UK government.

The variant, known as B.1.1.7., Has an exceptionally large number of mutations and has been associated with a more efficient and faster transfer.

Scientists first spotted this mutation in September. The variant of concern has since been detected in at least 44 countries, including the US, which has reported its presence in 12 states.

Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the modeled pathway of the variant in the U.S. will show rapid growth in early 2021 and become the predominant variant in March. ‘

British scientific adviser Patrick Vallance, who spoke with Johnson on Friday, said there was now new early evidence that there is an increased risk for those who have the new variant compared to the old virus.

“If you … took a man in his sixties, the average risk is that out of about 1000 people who are infected, about 10 are expected to die unhappily from the virus. With the new variant, for 1000 people who “about 13 or 14.” People can be expected to die, “he added.

—CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this article.