REAL FEARS
Serious concern mutant Covid strains like South Africa variant could evade vaccines, warns Vallance
COVID variants such as the one from South Africa are a "real issue of concern", Sir Patrick Vallance has warned.
The Chief Scientific Adviser said there are unanswered questions as to whether the immune system will be able to attack the "more worrying" strains.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
3
It means scientists are still unsure whether those who have immunity from either infection or a vaccine are protected against new strains.
Both the variants from South Africa and Brazil have a mutation that is known to essentially evade some antibodies.
The UK variant, found in Kent, does not have this mutation.
Speaking on Sky News this morning, Sir Patrick - who has helped guide the Government through the pandemic - said there are some laboratory studies of the South African variant which suggest "this may be a virus that can escape some of the immune effects of antibodies".
A new study published today found the South African variant, called 501.V2, does appear to have mutations resistant to immunity from previous coronavirus infection.
It suggests people who have recovered from Covid could be reinfected, and casts a doubt on whether immunity from vaccines will work against the new strain.
Sir Patrick said "we don't know to what degree" the variants would escape antibodies.
"We should get information on clinical effects because vaccinations are occurring in South Africa, in Brazil and other places variants may occur, so we should get some more information on that.
"They are more worrying in the sense they are a little more different in terms of how the immune system recognises them.
"It is a real issue of concern. It's something we need to keep an eye on.
"But we don't have all the answers yet. I would just caution the laboratory studies are not perfect predictors so we need to get clinical data."
3
The immune system creates killer antibodies when it is exposed to the coronavirus pathogen, or a vaccine.
If a person is later infected with the virus, the immune system has a memory of the "spike" on the surface, and is primed to attack it.
However a change in the shape of the spike protein makes it more difficult for the immune system to recognise the virus.
The variants that emerged from South Africa and Brazil share a mutation called E484K.
Professor Francois Balloux, director of UCL Genetics Institute, has previously said the E484K mutation has "been shown to reduce antibody recognition".
"As such, it helps the virus SARS-CoV-2 to bypass immune protection provided by prior infection or vaccination", he said.
, scientists looked at the impact of specific mutations in the spike gene of the South African variant.
They found that 501Y.V2 showed "complete escape" from monoclonal antibodies - man-made proteins that act like human antibodies in the immune system.
Similar findings were also observed in samples containing convalescent plasma - antibody-rich plasma of someone who has recovered from coronavirus.
The study authors, from South Africa, wrote: "These data highlight the prospect of reinfection with antigenically distinct variants and may foreshadow reduced efficacy of current spike-based vaccines."
Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, described the findings as "not good news but not unexpected".
He said: "The vaccines do stimulate very strong responses, immunity is a sliding scale it's not an on-off switch."
Lawrence Young, a virologist and professor of molecular oncology at Warwick Medical School, who was not involved in the research, said: "This preprint suggests that individuals might be able to get infected with a variant of Sars-Cov-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) even if they have previously had Covid-19.
"It also shows we urgently need to find out if we could see infection with this variant post-vaccination."
3
Pfizer recently discovered its Covid vaccine, being rolled out across the UK, protects against a mutation in all three of the new variants, called N501Y.
And the company announced research today that said its Covid vaccine is likely to protect against the UK strain.
However, the E484K has not yet been studied yet and so is still a cause of concern.
The CEO of Moderna says he believes the firm's coronavirus vaccine will be effective against the variants from the UK, South Africa or Brazil, .
Sir Patrick gave the promising news that scientists are "increasingly of the view" that immunity build from either prior infection or vaccine will be effective against the variant discovered in Kent.
He added: "For some of the others popping up around the world, and they will continue to pop up, we still have some question marks over how effective the vaccine will be. Those studies need to be continued.
"I think it's likely we will need to have modified vaccines in due course.
"I wouldn't be at all surprised if we needed slight variations of the vaccine to make sure we keep on top of this. Changes will occur all over the world, viruses mutate, I would expect to see more of that going forward."
But Sir Patrick said vaccines are "relatively easy to change" and it only takes a few weeks for the jab to be modified in the lab, before reaching people's arms.
Sir Patrick has previously said the variants may weaken - but not "abolish" - the effect of vaccines.
Another study, the findings of which were published yesterday, claimed up to half of people with immunity against Covid due to prior infection are vulnerable to catching the South African variant.
The , which has not yet been peer reviewed, found that 48 per cent of blood samples from people who had previously been infected with existing strains did not show an immune response to the new South African variant.
Researchers warned that "we could have a problem" when it comes to new variants and how they are received by people who have already contracted and overcome Covid-19.
In a separate study by researchers in Washington, experts looked at blood samples of people with antibodies for older strains and how they reacted to the new variant.
From 11 samples, nine shows reduced binding from antibodies after being exposed to the variant.
What are the new variants are in the UK?
Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed in mid-December that a new coronavirus variant was spreading in the UK, having emerged in Kent in September before rapidly spreading in the south.
This variant, called VUI 202012/01, has swiftly become dominant in the UK and has been largely blamed for the so-called "third wave".
Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed the new South African strain had entered the UK in late December.
Most read in Health News
It is thought that 54 Brits have contracted the strain so far - however these cases were picked up from random samples, so it could be the case that infections of the variant are much higher.
Experts have previously warned the South African variant can't be picked up by testing - a person carrying it would test positive, but the test cannot distinguish if they have the new variant, or an older version.
The Prime Minister Boris Johnson then revealed on January 13 the Government was "concerned" about a new Brazilian variant.
Two variants have been identified in Brazil; the first has a small number of mutations and 11 confirmed cases of this variant have been identified in the UK.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
The second, which has been detected in Manaus and travellers arriving in Japan, has not been detected in the UK.
Brazil Covid variant: New strain is ALREADY in UK and could’ve been spreading ‘for some time’
Topics