LONDON (Reuters) – The world faces around 4,000 variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, prompting a race to improve vaccines, Britain said on Thursday, as researchers began to explore mixing doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots.

Thousands of variants have been documented as the virus mutates, including the so-called British, South African and Brazilian variants which appear to spread more swiftly than others.

British Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said it was very unlikely that the current vaccines would not work against the new variants.

“Its very unlikely that the current vaccine won’t be effective on the variants whether in Kent or other variants especially when it comes to severe illness and hospitalisation,” Zahawi told Sky News.

“All manufacturers, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and others, are looking at how they can improve their vaccine to make sure that we are ready for any variant – there are about 4,000 variants around the world of COVID now.”

While thousands of variants have arisen as the virus mutates on replication, only a very small minority are likely to be important and to change the virus in an appreciable way, according to the British Medical Journal.

The so called British variant, known as VUI-202012/01, has mutations including a change in the spike protein that viruses use to bind to the human ACE2 receptor – meaning that it is probably easier to catch.

“We have the largest genome sequencing industry – we have about 50% of the world’s genome sequencing industry – and we are keeping a library of all the variants so that we are ready to respond – whether in the autumn or beyond – to any challenge that the virus may present and produce the next vaccine,” Zahawi said.

VACCINE RACE

The novel coronavirus – known as SARS-CoV-2 – has killed 2.268 million people worldwide since it emerged in China in late 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

Israel is currently far ahead of the rest of the world on vaccinations per head of population, followed by the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, the United States and then Spain, Italy and Germany.

Britain on Thursday launched a trial to assess the immune responses generated if doses of the vaccines from Pfizer and AstraZeneca are combined in a two-shot schedule.

The British researchers behind the trial said data on vaccinating people with the two different types of vaccines could help understanding of whether shots can be rolled out with greater flexibility around the world. Initial data on immune responses is expected to be generated around June.

The trial will examine the immune responses of an initial dose of Pfizer vaccine followed by a booster of AstraZeneca’s, as well as vice versa, with intervals of four and 12 weeks.

Both the mRNA shot developed by Pfizer and BioNtech and the adenovirus viral vector vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca are currently being rolled out in Britain, with a 12-week gap between two doses of the same vaccine.

Vaccine-Virus Transmission: A new study may help answer answer one of the major questions about the campaign to suppress the outbreak. Researchers from Oxford University say AstraZeneca’s vaccine does more than protect people from falling seriously ill — it also has the potential to reduce transmission of the virus. The study also suggested that a single dose of the formula provides a high level of protection for 12 weeks, which may vindicate the British government’s controversial strategy of delaying the second shot so that more people can be quickly given a first dose. Until now, the recommended time between the two doses has been four weeks. Danica Kirka and Lauran Neergaard report.

Britain Hard-Hit Borough: In parts of east London, the pandemic has hit much harder than most places in the U.K. The borough of Redbridge in the outer reaches of the capital had the nation’s second-worst infection rate in January. While case rates have come down, leaders say the borough is still “in the eye of the storm.” Officials say the area’s dense housing, high levels of poverty and large number of workers in public-facing jobs combine to make it more vulnerable. Many of the lower-income essential workers are ethnic minorities, who are among the most at-risk but also hardest to persuade to take up the vaccine, Sylvia Hui reports.

Czech 1M: The Czech Republic has reached 1 million confirmed cases. It is by far the smallest of the 21 countries to surpass the milestone, with the U.S. leading the global table with more than 26 million With a population of 10.7 million, the country has registered 16,683 deaths. Nearly 6,000 people are hospitalized while just over 1,000 are in intensive care, putting the health system under increasing pressure, Karel Janicek reports from Prague. The country was spared the worst of the pandemic in the spring only to see its health care system near collapse in the fall and again in January after the coalition government repeatedly let down pandemic guards despite warnings by experts.

France ICU: The ICU ward at the biggest hospital in southern France is facing a constant, steady flow of virus patients. A 16-year-old was brought in this week, its youngest patient to date. Staff at the La Timone Hospital’s ICU ward in Marseille say they’re just about managing, but the situation could worsen any day. France has lost more than 77,000 lives to the virus. Daniel Cole reports.

• Gulf Arab states are launching new restrictions over fears of the coronavirus resurging across their countries. With populations including largely young and healthy foreign laborers, many Gulf countries have avoided the higher death tolls seen in elsewhere around the world. However, reported case numbers appear to be rising since the New Year.
• One of the World Health Organization investigators looking for clues into the origin of the coronavirus in the central Chinese city of Wuhan says the Chinese side has provided a high level of cooperation.

 

The post World Faces 4,000 COVID Variants as New Vaccine Combinations Tested appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.