LONDON (Reuters) – The British variant of coronavirus has developed a new mutation relative to a mutation in a small number of cases, which scientists say makes it similar to South African and Brazilian variants and could reduce the effectiveness of vaccines .
The appearance of the mutation of the variant first discovered in Britain shows how complicated it will be to get out of the blockade of COVID-19 even once the vaccines are launched.
Public Health England said there had been 11 reports of the UK variant presenting the E484K mutation, mainly in the south-west of England.
The E484K mutation, which occurs in the virus’s flagship protein, is the same change that has been seen in the South African and Brazilian variants that have caused international concern.
“PHE is closely monitoring the situation and all necessary public health interventions are being carried out, including control and contact tracking measures,” a PHE spokesman said.
Several laboratory studies have found that vaccines and antibody therapy are less effective against the South African variant.
In contrast, early evidence showed that vaccines worked just as well against the UK variant, which originally did not have the E484K mutation.
Health Minister Matt Hancock said it was too early to know the impact of the variants on vaccines, but worrying mutations had been reported in Bristol and Liverpool.
“We must continue to act with caution, especially because of the renewed challenges posed by new variants of the coronavirus,” he told lawmakers.
Calum Semple, who is part of a group advising the British government, told BBC radio that E484K was the “most worrying mutation” and that it had “spontaneously occurred” in the UK variant.
The name E484K, in simple terms, is like map coordinates. The number 484 is the exact location of the mutation, the letter E is the amino acid it was originally from and the letter K is the amino acid to which it has mutated.
Concern about the South African variant, with its E484K mutation, has already prompted the British authorities to start a massive door-to-door test in areas where cases of the variant have been found in people who have no link to South Africa, while mandatory, has not yet entered into force quarantine in hotels to reach South Africa.
Although the number of reported cases of the UK variant with the mutation in question is small, scientists said it showed how the high prevalence of cases in Britain meant that it was not enough simply to prevent imports. of new variants.
“This report seems to suggest that under conditions of very high levels of virus replication, even the strictest border controls, while they may delay spread, are unlikely to prevent the emergence of new variants,” he said. say Jonathan Stoye, virologist at The Francis Crick Institute.
Reports by Estelle Shirbon and Alistair Smout; Additional reports by Kate Kelland; Edited by Nick Macfie, Gareth Jones and Giles Elgood