Everything About the New Coronavirus Strain in the UK Simplified for You

It’s 2020, which means happiness is fleeting and any piece of good news is inevitably followed by several chunkier pieces of bad news.

Just look at the UK.

The UK became the first Western country to authorize a Covid-19 vaccine, and have already begun mass vaccination drives.

But then two recipients of the vaccine developed anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction, and scientists found a new coronavirus strain that is more contagious.

That is pretty much 2020 in a nutshell.

Now we have no choice but to grapple with a new variant of a virus that we only recently developed vaccines for.

So, what do we know about this new Covid-19 mutation?

It’s Not the First Mutation

The coronavirus has undergone numerous mutations since it first emerged in Wuhan, China, but only a few have been singled out because these mutations changed their behaviour.

The D614G mutation, for example, emerged in Europe in February and gradually took over as the globally dominant virus strain.

Another strain, called A222V, was also found to have spread across Europe after it likely emerged from people’s summer holidays in Spain.

It May be More Infectious

There’s a reason why the UK government recently imposed a lockdown on 21 million residents in London, southeast and eastern England, and Wales.

Christmas gatherings are strongly discouraged and non-essential shops were ordered to close, in what are the most severe Covid-19 restrictions in the UK since March.

“It is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you we cannot proceed with Christmas as planned,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

And it’s all to curb the spread of this new Covid-19 strain.

Mr Johnson said that although there’s “considerable uncertainty,” the new strain “may be up to 70% more transmissible” than the original virus.

According to the BBC, this new mutated coronavirus is alarming the authorities for three main reasons:

• this variant is unusually highly mutated, and these mutations affect part of the virus likely to be important
• some of these mutations have been shown in the lab to increase its infectiousness
• it’s quickly replacing other versions of the virus

17 Mutations

As previously mentioned, this particular strain is highly mutated, and unusually so. It has a total of 17 mutations.

One of the alterations is to the spike protein, which is what viruses use to enter our body’s cells.

The other mutation – an H69/V70 deletion, where a small part of the spike is removed, could render antibodies less effective at combating the virus.

No Evidence It’s More Deadly

While it may be more infectious, there’s no evidence this new coronavirus strain is more deadly.

The worry is that the increase in transmission would eventually overwhelm hospitals, leading to a shortage of staff, beds, and most importantly, ventilators.

Will Vaccines Work Against This New Strain?

Here’s where the experts disagree.

Some believe the changes will not impact the efficacy of vaccines, as vaccines train the immune system to attack different parts of the virus.

Moreover, Professor Ooi Eng Eong from Duke-NUS Medical School told TODAYonline that the vaccines currently in use contain the entire spike protein gene, meaning its efficacy will not be affected.

On the other hand, Dr Ling Li Min from Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital believes people should prepare for the worst, if the new strain is able to withstand and overcome the body’s trained immune response.

Countries Banning UK Flights

While it’s unclear if the new strain will render vaccines ineffective, some countries in Europe are taking no chances.

Countries such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Romania, The Netherlands, and Belgium have already said they are planning to block air travel with the UK.

According to a German government source, all 27 countries in the European Union could also adopt this restriction.

So, Should We Worry?

One should remember that when the D614G mutation first emerged, people all over the world were panicking because it was thought to be more contagious. 

However, as Dr Paul Tambyah noted at the time, the rapid growth of the D614G mutation in some parts of the world coincided with a drop in death rates, meaning it could be less lethal than the original strain.

So, while we should take the necessary measures to curb the spread of the virus, there’s no need to panic.

For now, the new variant has only spread across the UK, with the exception of Northern Ireland.

Featured Image: Limbitech / Shutterstock.com