Covid-19 : UK variant shows «concerning» mutations

The Public Health England is investigating cases of coronavirus with «worrying» new genetic changes in the UK, the BBC reports.

«Tests show they have a mutation, called E484K, that is already seen in the South Africa variant», it explained. The mutation could reduce vaccine effectiveness but the current ones should still work, experts told the same source.

Experts at the Public Health England found 11 cases of the UK variant with the mutation E484K. «Scientists have already been checking what these new mutations might mean for existing coronavirus vaccines that were designed around earlier versions of the virus that started the pandemic», the same source explained.

Several laboratories manufacturing vaccines against Covid-19, like Moderna and Pfizer / Biontech, have announced that their products remain effective against the English variant. 

However, the versions discovered in Brazil and South Africa appeared to decrease antibody activity significantly, although the level of protection given by the vaccine was originally so high that this should not be a problem.