WHO says new coronavirus mutation more infectious, but believes vaccine can still take care of it

A new, more infectious coronavirus mutation is sending another wave of anxiousness around the world, but health experts say they expect the vaccine to still work against it.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed that the new coronavirus strain that appeared in the UK seems to be more infectious than the prevailing strain. However, health experts stated that they do not believe the new strain will be a problem for COVID-19 vaccines.

During a press briefing, Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead on COVID-19 of WHO said that the new strain showed no increase in transmission rate. She also said that someone who was infected with the new strain of the virus can be expected to infect 1.5 persons. The already common strain's reproduction number is about 1.1. She added that they are trying to determine how much of it is associated with the new variant as well as the differences in behaviour among the individuals that the new strain infected.

Since the new strain became prevalent in the UK, the country's officials have also stated that they do not believe the new strain will have an impact on the vaccines.

Patrick Vallance, chief scientific adviser of the UK government, stated on Monday in a separate press conference, that there is no evidence that would suggest that the vaccine will not work against the new strain.

"The vaccine looks as though it should be as effective, and that's obviously being looked at," said Vallance."

WHO revealed that it was on Dec. 14 that the U.K. first reported about the new strain. It then added that the one in South Africa was a different variant, which came about at the same time.

The new strain that was reportedly found in South Africa was labeled as 501.V2. Health officials say that it was dominant among new infections. The Ministerial Advisory Committee's chairman Professor Salim Abdool Karim noted that the preliminary data that they have showed that the new variant is dominant in the second wave. He noted that it was spreading at a rate much faster as compared to the first wave.

Dr Anthony Fauci told CNN that they would not want to overreact with regards to the new virus strain. He also strongly advised against the suspension of flights from the UK.

New Coronavirus Strain