After The Two New COVID Variants In The UK, Third Mutant Strain Found In Nigeria

John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention spoke of P681H yesterday, the new mutant strain found in Nigeria, reports The Sun.

This revelation comes after the discovery of two relatively new COVID-19 strains in the UK, with one having been traced back to South Africa.

coronavirusexplained.ukri.org/

While the previously found 501.V2 strain was behind the 9,000 cases-per-day second wave in South Africa, it's not known what P681H could lead to. Whether or not it's more infectious is unclear at the moment.

"Give us some time... it's still very early," said John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the report, Dr Nkengasong confirmed that this alert came after two or three genetic sequences were found in samples collected from two patients on August 3 and on October 9, in Osun, in Nigeria.

Also read: New COVID Strain Makes World Anxious, 40 Nations Stop UK Flights: Know All That's Happening

Reuters

A research paper read by AP reads: 'Unlike the variant seen in the UK, we haven't observed such rapid rise of the lineage in Nigeria and do not have evidence to indicate that the P681H variant is contributing to increased transmission of the virus in Nigeria.'

'However, the relative difference in scale of genomic surveillance in Nigeria vs the U.K. may imply a reduced power to detect such changes.'

Dr Nkengasong added, "While the variant transmits quickly and viral loads are higher, it is not yet clear whether it leads to a more severe disease."

"We believe this mutation will not have an effect on the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to the continent."

Also read: Another More Contagious COVID Variant From South Africa Found In UK After Two New Cases

Reuters

But could having so many different vaccines in the works help? Michael Mina, Epidemiologist, Immunologist, Physician at Harvard Public Health/Medical School, has this to say: ¡°The leading vaccines are each similar. Different vehicles, but each ultimately display a similar Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. The combined vaccine programs are fairly narrow in scope and each provides the immune system with a limited set of epitope targets to work with.¡±