A variant or strain of the Corona virus called VUI 202012/01 found in the UK is said to be more contagious and worrying. Researchers found 23 changes in this type of variant, 8 of which were associated with changes in the spike protein.
The existence of this variant makes many people worry about whether it will affect the vaccine COVID-19 which is currently being developed.
Although it appears to be more infectious than other known variants of the virus, scientists do not think it is likely to cause a more serious illness. But will it still respond to vaccines?
World Health Organization (WHO) chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said it was ‘very unlikely’ that the latest mutation from the coronavirus would cause the COVID-19 vaccine be ineffective.
To BBC World News, Swaminathan said that scientists around the world are conducting laboratory experiments to ensure the vaccine is still effective on the new COVID-19 variant.
“They take this virus, this strain, they grow it in the laboratory and then they see if it can be killed or neutralized by antibodies taken from people who have had natural infections or have had the vaccine,” he said.
Likewise, Minister of Research and Technology Bambang Brodjonegoro said that the presence of a new variant of COVID-19 is not expected to have a negative impact on the effectiveness of the vaccine currently being developed by many producers in the world, including Indonesia.
“(There is) the name receptor binding domain, although the RDB is attacked but the RDB will not be disturbed so the vaccine will be optimistic even though there is this new variant,” said Bambang in the dialogue quoted from CNBC Indonesia, Friday (25/12/2020).
In general, viruses themselves can mutate to adapt to their host. In this mutation, there are two possibilities, namely the virus becomes weak and dies or the virus becomes healthy and survives with its host condition.
Watch Video “The UK’s Response to the New Corona Strain Amid the Vaccination Program“
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