South African SARS-CoV-2 Variant Alarms Scientists [View all]

[Klaralven]

Scientists are testing if COVID-19 vaccines will protect against newly identified UK and South African SARS-CoV-2 variants, both of which contain an unusual number of mutations compared to other variants of the coronavirus. These mutations are concentrated mainly in the segment of the virus’s genome that codes for the spike protein, which the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines each build immunity to.

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While the UK variant was first detected in September, officials noticed that it was rapidly spreading through the country in mid-December, leading to tighter restrictions on movement and businesses within days. South African officials reported on December 18 that 501.V2 had been largely replacing other strains of the coronavirus as early as November.

501.V2 carries a mutation in the spike protein called E484K, which is not present in the UK strain, Francois Balloux, the director of the University College London Genetics Institute, says in a statement. “The E484K mutation has been shown to reduce antibody recognition,” he says, which may help the virus bypass immune protection provided by prior infection or vaccination. However, he says that the mutation is not sufficient for the variant to bypass the protection provided by vaccines.

John Bell, a University of Oxford immunologist who is on the UK’s vaccine task force, tells Times Radio that he thinks vaccines would work on the UK variant but there is a “big question mark” about 501.V2, as there is still sparse evidence about it.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/south-african-sars-cov-2-variant-alarms-scientists-68317