A mutated form of COVID-19 that was first identified in South Africa may be more transmissible, but it does not currently look like more serious diseases, said an expert in infectious diseases.
The South African virus variant, known as 501Y.V2, has caused serious concern, and the strain has already been described as more contagious than the COVID-19 virus identified at the start of the pandemic. In South Africa, it quickly became dominant in the country’s coastal areas. That said, experts are currently confident that existing COVID-19 vaccines should still be effective against mutated strains.
“We have seen that data on viral load are higher in patients who contain the variant,” Ian Sanne, a doctor of infectious diseases and a member of a panel of scientists advising the South African Minister of Health, told Bloomberg said. “The variant is more transferable, the second wave is significantly affected.”
Although it is more transmissible, it does not appear to cause serious illness at the moment, he added.
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Dr Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, also spoke to the emerging variants, including a separate one identified in the UK, during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday morning.
He said he was not surprised to see new strains of the virus, and warned that one could appear more deadly than COVID-19.
“It’s possible that you’re going to see strains that are more pathogenic, either causing serious illnesses or binding more closely to certain receptors. Many people seem to be surprised that the virus is mutating, but the reality is that we’re been here for a year now. with this virus – it’s about time you start popping up new variants. ‘
Gottlieb’s comments come just days after he warned that the South African tribe could “weaken” other countermeasures, including antibody products.
“The South African variant is currently very worrying because it seems to be able to prevent some of our medical countermeasures, especially the antibody products,” Gottlieb told CNBC’s Shepard Smith late Tuesday.
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Gottlieb stressed that rapid vaccination is of paramount importance amid the tensions already identified in Austria, Switzerland, Japan, France, Zambia and the United Kingdom.
“The vaccine may be a turning point against these variants that are gaining more traction in America, but we need to speed up the vaccination rate,” the former FDA chief said.
Foxla’s Kayla Rivas contributed to this report.