WHO chief says COVID vaccines may not work against new strains

World

23:08 GMT 08.02.2021(updated at 11:14 GMT on 08.02.2021) Get a short url

In December 2020, a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 was reported in South Africa. The mutation, known as 501.V2, is said to be more aggressive and dangerous for young men. The new, highly transmissible strain could also be resistant to existing COVID-19 vaccines.

On Monday, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stressed that the emergence of new coronavirus mutations poses the problem of the effectiveness of existing vaccines. During a press briefing, he suggested that it was “concerning” that existing vaccines do not work as well against the new variant, first detected in South Africa.

Tedros stressed the critical need for vaccine makers to upgrade their existing vaccines, saying booster shots would most likely be needed as the new strain is spreading rapidly around the world and could become the predominant variant of the coronavirus.

According to the WHO chief, South Africa’s ban on the AstraZeneca vaccine following previous reports that the drug does not protect against mild to moderate Covid-19 infections, is “a reminder that we must do everything possible to reduce the spread of the virus proven public health measures. “

He added that the WHO will announce its decision on whether it will recommend the AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency use “in the coming days”. If the drug is approved, poor countries will receive the vaccines under COVAX, a UN-backed effort to distribute COVID-19 vaccines around the world.

As a study published on February 6 found, a two-dose regimen of the Oxford / AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is not effective against mild to moderate forms of the disease caused by the new variant, while the drug, according to the spokesperson for AstraZeneca, “could protect against serious diseases.”

South African authorities announced on December 19, 2020, that a second wave of the pandemic in the country was caused by the novel 501.V2 coronavirus variant, identified in October 2020 in southern Nelson Mandela Bay County in the Eastern Cape Province on the Indian Ocean coast. According to local researchers, the new strain is more aggressive and primarily affects young people.

Earlier last year, a British strain of COVID-19 was identified, which is more infectious and deadly than genetic variants of SARS-CoV-2 previously found in the country. The WHO, however, announced that there was “no clear evidence that the new variant was associated with more serious disease or worse outcomes.”

Last week, the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet published a report analyzing the third phase of the Sputnik V trial. The article places the Russian drug among the best vaccines in the world, with an efficacy of 91.6% against symptomatic COVID-19.