Covid variant from South Africa, “There are currently fewer than 100 complete sequences available. We don’t know much about it yet. What we do know is that it has a large number of mutations and the concern, when you have so many mutations, is that this one may have. an impact on how the virus behaves. Researchers are now teaming up to understand where these mutations are and what they could potentially mean for our diagnostic tools, treatments and vaccines. It is good that these variants are being discovered. we have a system in place. It will take a few weeks for us to understand what impact this variant has. ” This was explained by epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove, an expert at the World Health Organization (WHO), taking stock of what is known about the new mutant at this time.
“There is a lot of work going on”, assured the expert, explaining that it is “a variant under monitoring” and that the Technical Advisory Group on Sars-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (Tag-Ve) he is discussing “whether to make it a variant of interest or concern. And if this were the case – added van Kerkhove – we will give it a name with a letter of the Greek alphabet”. Everyone “must understand that the more this virus circulates, the more opportunities it has to change”, is the expert’s warning. “Everyone has a role to play in bringing transmission down to a level that protects themselves against serious illness and death. So get vaccinated when you can, make sure you have completed your cycle and taken all the necessary steps to get it right. reduce your exposure “to contagion” and to prevent the risk of passing the virus to others “.
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