Just when the world is learning to live with Covid-19, new mutant strains of the virus have raised new fears. The new variants of SARS-CoV-2 are reportedly transmitted faster, increasing the possibility of getting infected. With many parts of the world rolling out vaccines, a question on everyone’s mind is: do the vaccines have us covered for the new strains?
By Nabeela Khan
The emergence of new variants of the novel coronavirus in Britain, South Africa, and Japan has sparked widespread concern. With the global death toll past two million, countries across the world are grappling with how to slow infections until vaccines become widely available.
All viruses mutate and while the word ‘mutate’ itself may sound scary but when viruses replicate and adapt to their environment, they mutate; to simplify they change or alter.
The World Health Organisation said “it is normal for viruses to mutate, but the more the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads, the more opportunities it has to change. High levels of transmission mean that we should expect more variants to emerge.”
How many versions have emerged?
So far, we know of two versions, and the identification of the third and fourth one is in its preliminary stage. According to U.S Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a new variant in the United Kingdom (UK), of SARS-CoV-2 (known as VOC 202012/01, or B.1.1.7) emerged with an unusually large number of mutations. In South Africa, another variant of SARS-CoV-2 (known as 20H/501Y.V2 or B.1.351) emerged independently of B.1.1.7. This variant shares some mutations with B.1.1.7. In Brazil, a variant of SARS-CoV-2 (known as P.1) emerged and was identified in four travellers from Brazil, who were tested outside Tokyo, Japan.
The WHO noted that a third new coronavirus variant found in Japan needs further investigation. WHO was notified by Japan on January 9 of the new variant detected in four travellers arriving from Brazil.
The strains found in the UK and South Africa called N501Y share similarities. This is a minor variation on one spot of the spike protein that coats the virus. This change is believed to be the reason these strains can spread easily.
In addition to this, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles say a novel strain has emerged in California as well, but very little is known about it at the moment.
In response to this, WHO organised a virtual meeting of 1,750 international scientists to discuss critical knowledge gaps and research priorities for emerging variants of the virus.
“Our collective goal is to get ahead of the game and have a global mechanism to quickly identify and study variants of concern and understand their implications for disease control efforts,” said Ana Maria Henao Restrepo, Head of WHO’s research and development.
Is it a cause of concern?
While the new variant transmits more easily than the previous one, according to Public Health England, “we currently have no evidence that the variant is more likely to cause severe disease or mortality”. “data from Whole Genome Sequencing, epidemiology and modelling suggest the new variant (the first variant) transmits more easily than other strains” Public Health England added
It is important to understand that adaptation by the virus is not a new concept to scientists. Most viruses and disease-causing bacteria develop ways of escaping treatments and vaccines, so they can continue to spread. Monitoring virus mutations is how the genetic family tree of viruses is created and outbreaks are tracked, according to Public Health England.
Will vaccines work against this?
The scientists say that the answer to this is yes at the moment because most of the vaccines being rolled out around the world train the body to recognize new spike proteins and fight them. “Pfizer and BioNTech believe that the flexibility of BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA vaccine platform is well suited to develop new vaccine variants if required,” the two companies said in a statement.
In the latest episode of science conversation, WHO’s Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan explained the vaccine’s protection against variants. She said, “For SARS-CoV-2 we’re still learning, we’re still observing and our knowledge is evolving.”
“But at this point in time, most scientists believe that the vaccines that are currently in development and a couple that has been approved should provide protection against this variant and other variants because these vaccines elicit a fairly broad immune response, a host of antibodies, and cell-mediated immune responses.”
She added, “a couple of changes or mutations in the virus should not make these vaccines ineffective. But right now there are studies going on in labs around the world to actually confirm that”.
How to protect yourself
Experts agree that the new variant was unlikely to make vaccines ineffective but the world is still waiting for vaccines. In this scenario, one should still continue to follow basic Covid safety precautions.
The arrival of the variant means people should be more careful and avoid getting exposed. After months of living with the pandemic, many of us have become careless about precautions. The WHO advises the general public to continue to follow basic respiratory hygiene practices and measures to prevent the spread of respiratory infections such as physical distancing, wearing a mask, keeping rooms well ventilated, avoiding crowds, cleaning hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue.
With an aim to control the current situation, WHO further advises countries to strengthen existing disease control activities, improve communication with the public and monitor the situation closely through on-going epidemiological surveillance and strategic testing.
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