Europe has classified the ‘Mu’ variant of the coronavirus as potentially worrying

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Thursday that the variant of the coronavirus called “Mu” is “potentially worrying”, although there is no data yet to show whether will surpass the Delta.

Mu, whose scientific nomenclature is B.1.621, was first detected in January in Colombia and had been classified as “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization (WHO). While the EMA is focusing on the highly transmissible Delta variant, it is also “studying other variants that may spread, such as Lambda (identified in Peru) and more recently Mu,” said Marco Cavaleri, chief strategy officer. vaccine regulator.

“The (variant) Mu could be potentially more worrying because it would show a possible risk of immunoevasionOr vaccine resistance, Cavaleri said at a press conference. The EMA will discuss with vaccine research centers the efficacy of drugs against this variant. “But we have no data to show that the Mu variant spreads so widely or that it has the potential to outperform the Delta variant as a dominant strain,” he noted.

All viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2 responsible for COVID-19, mutate over time. Most of the modifications have little or no impact on the characteristics of the virus. But some mutations can affect the way it spreads, the severity of the disease, or the effectiveness of drugs. Currently, the WHO considers four variants of SARS-CoV-2 to be of concern, including Alpha (present in 193 countries) and Delta (170 countries). The development of five more, including Mu, is being analyzed.

“The preliminary data presented to the Working Group on the Evolution of the Virus shows a decrease in the neutralizing capacity of the sera of convalescent and vaccinated patients. similar to that observed for the Beta variant (discovered in South Africa) ”, specifies the WHO, indicating that these hypotheses should be confirmed later by other studies.

Although the overall prevalence of the Mu variant among sequenced cases decreased and is less than 0.1%, its prevalence in Colombia (39%) and Ecuador (13%) is constantly increasing.

On the other hand, United Nations Health Agency for Health in the Americas noted that there is no evidence that a third booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines is needed for the general population. At present, we are studying how long the protection of each of the available vaccines lasts.

“There is no strong evidence to date that a third dose is needed for the general population. Some special groups are under evaluation. But so far there is not enough information to make a recommendation for a third dose, ”said Dr Jarbas Barbosa, who insisted that priority be given to the distribution of vaccines to those who need it. do not yet have one.

Less than a quarter of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean has received the full immunization schedule. The director of the UN agency denounced that there are still months before many can be vaccinated. While countries like Chile and Uruguay have vaccinated more than 60% of their population, in more than a third of countries in the region that figure does not reach 20%.