London British scientists say that the rapidly spreading COVID-19 variant, first discovered in the south of England, is evolving in a way that the existing vaccines less effective against it. The UK closely monitored mutations of the country coronavirus for months, which led the world to detect changes in the genetic code of the virus.
Authorities in England are trying to test everyone over the age of 16 in many neighborhoods, where a few cases of another disturbing variant have been found – the one first detected in South Africa. But even as Britain finds and stops the highly contagious tension, scientists have discovered that the British variant appears to be mutating in a way that mimics the South African version.
The discovery has raised concerns about the continued evolution of the virus, as evidenced by evidence may lead to resistance to the vaccines is being rolled out all over the world.
“The virus improves itself over time,” says Sharon Peacock, who leads a nationwide network of British scientists, watching the transformations more closely than anywhere else in the world, says Roxana Saberi, a correspondent for CBS News.
For the coronavirus, Peacock says, “it’s a matter of natural selection. It’s the survival of the fittest.”
She tells CBS News that her team at COVID-19 Genomics UK is searching for new mutations in laboratories across the UK every day, giving us a barcode for the virus. ‘
The hunt is dependent on both robots and human researchers examining thousands of samples of COVID-19, which map mutations in the genetic code of the virus.
In November, they noticed something of concern: mutations, many in the vein protein of the virus, made it possible to bind the cells more tightly, making them much more contagious.
Ten people infected with the old variant of the virus could be expected to transmit it to 13 others, but ten people who had the new variant discovered in Kent, south-east London, could infect about 20.
“It’s really important,” says Peacock, “because more people can get sick and therefore more people are likely to die from the burden of disease.”
The new tribe has since been quickly called the “British variant” swept around the world, which has called on the US and many other countries to step up their travel restrictions. Germany and Austria are now instructing anyone who ventures into most public places to wear medical masks, not just cloth napkins, and the UK has introduced a third nationwide lockdown.
Scientists in the UK say that COVID-19 continues to mutate, that the rest of the world must also do more genetic sequencing – and the The US has some catching up. Currently, less than 1% of coronavirus samples in the United States are sequenced compared to about 10% in the United Kingdom, which means that many dangerous mutations can be missed.
Peacock says it is “very likely” that COVID-19 variants are more widespread in the U.S. than is currently known, “and I think sequencing will be important in detecting it.”
Ravi Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, tells CBS News that vaccines are likely to be redesigned by the end of this year to adapt to new mutations. A senior researcher for pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said on Wednesday that work would be done as soon as possible.
“We are working very hard and we are already talking not only about the variants we have to make in laboratories, but also about the clinical studies we have to carry out,” Mene Pangalos said during a media conference. “We would very much like to try to have something ready by autumn, so this year.”