Professor Ravi Gupta from the University of Cambridge said that inappropriate questions about coronavirus variants are more complex than last year, given that many people in the population now either had Covid or were vaccinated.
Gupta added that while B.1.617.2 does not have the E484Q mutation seen in the other two India variants that could help him avoid the body’s immune response, there are other mutations, including one called T478K.
“We don’t know anything about this mutation at the moment, we are currently performing experiments,” he said. “We need to have an open mind about what that mutation can do in terms of changing, for example, antibodies that neutralize sensitivity.”
Gupta noted that mutations in Indian variants and others contain accents that it is a misconception, which was founded last year, that new variants show the same mutations. Instead, the virus is exploring different ways to achieve similar outcomes, such as dodgy antibodies or binding to human cells.
“It shows that the virus has more ways of doing things,” Gupta said.
Professor Sharon Peacock from the University of Cambridge added that the United Kingdom is in a completely different position compared to last year, with the level of the decline in the disease, the vaccination program that is underway and there are overvoltage tests for the existing variants. “[B.1.617.2] it is not a special variant of concern that will bypass washing your hands, removing and wearing masks and staying in a well-ventilated place, ”she said.
Nonetheless, experts warned that it is important to monitor and understand the variants, noting that while many will be protected from serious illness and death from the vaccine, some will remain susceptible to coronavirus, while such efforts will also help work on adapting the Covid vaccine. . they retain their efficiency in relation to new variants.
“As we open society now, what we don’t want to see is the transmission of these variants that have more immune properties because people in the UK are at greater risk,” Gupta said.
Gupta added that there is a possibility that B.1.617.2 – or even the South African variant – will become dominant in the UK.
“In the UK, we have a very low level of transmission, so a way is opening up for a virus that is better adapted to vaccinated people to start transmitting,” he said. “It all depends on the dynamics of the transfer and how quickly we can detect and close them.”
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