LONDON: British officials warned on Friday that a variant of the coronavirus first identified in the UK could be more lethal and more transmissible than previous versions of the pathogen.
The conclusions of scientists advising the British government are still very uncertain. But British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a televised speech that the variant – which has led to an increase in Covid-19 infections across the UK and is spreading rapidly in the United States – could lead to rates of higher mortality.
U.S. federal health authorities have said it is likely to become the dominant variant in the United States in March.
“Today we have been informed that, in addition to spreading more rapidly, it now also appears that there is some evidence that the new variant – the variant that was first identified in London and the South East – may be associated with a higher degree of mortality, ”Johnson said.
Provisional findings come as British hospitals deal with more patients with Covid-19 than at any time during the pandemic. The death toll from Covid-19 in the UK is expected to exceed 100,000 next week.
Development increases the importance of effective vaccine deployment, which is later in the UK than elsewhere in Europe. Nearly 5.4 million people had received at least one vaccine in the UK since Thursday.
The government’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, warned that data on mortality rates associated with the variant were still highly uncertain.
The death toll from Covid-19 in the UK is expected to exceed 100,000 next week. A vaccination center in London this week.
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Neil Hall / Shutterstock
In hospitalized Covid cases there did not appear to be an increase in mortality. But among the general population, deaths were higher among those who had the new variant, he said. Of 1,000 young people aged 60 with the new variant, they were expected to die between the ages of 13 and 14, compared with about 10 deaths per 1,000 with the old variant, according to Mr Vallance.
Vallance said that so far vaccines seem to neutralize the new variant, which government scientists estimate is spreading between 30% and 70% faster than previous versions.
So far, British scientists had said there was no evidence that the variant discovered in late 2020 would cause more serious illness or death, only that it would spread faster than the previous version.
Officials said Friday that the new variant did not appear to evade the impact of vaccines, although it would increase mortality.
As new variants of the coronavirus spread around the world, scientists are rushing to understand the danger they could be. WSJ explains. Illustration: Alex Kuzoian / WSJ
Write to Max Colchester at [email protected]
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