Britain's coronavirus variant a concern, 'likely to sweep the world', says scientist

By Guy Faulconbridge

 

 

LONDON (Reuters) - The coronavirus variant first found in the British region of Kent is a concern because it could undermine the protection given by vaccines against developing COVID-19, the head of the UK’s genetic surveillance programme said.

 

She also said the variant was dominant in the country and was likely “to sweep the world, in all probability”.

 

The coronavirus has killed 2.35 million people and turned normal life upside down for billions, but a few new worrying variants out of thousands have raised fears that vaccines will need to be tweaked and people may require booster shots.

 

Sharon Peacock, director of the COVID-19 Genomics UK consortium, said vaccines were so far effective against the variants in the United Kingdom, but that mutations could potentially undermine the shots.

 

“What’s concerning about this is that the 1.1.7. variant that we have had circulating for some weeks and months is beginning to mutate again and get new mutations which could affect the way that we handle the virus in terms of immunity and effectiveness of vaccines,” Peacock told the BBC.

 

“It’s concerning that the 1.1.7., which is more transmissible, which has swept the country, is now mutating to have this new mutation that could threaten vaccination.”

 

That new mutation, first identified in Bristol in southwest England, has been designated a “Variant of Concern”, by the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group.

 

There are so far 21 cases of that variant which has E484K mutation, which occurs on the spike protein of the virus, the same change as has been seen in the South African and Brazilian variants.

 

“One has to be a realist that this particular mutation has arisen in our kind of communal garden lineage now, at least five times - five separate times. And so this is going to keep popping up,” Peacock said.

 

There are three major known variants that are worrying scientists: The South African variant, known by scientists as 20I/501Y.V2 or B.1.351; the so-called UK or Kent variant, known as 20I/501Y.V1 or B.1.1.7; and the Brazilian variant known as P.1.

 

The British variant, which is more infectious but not necessarily more deadly than others, was likely “to sweep the world”, Peacock said.

 

“Once we get on top of (the virus) or it mutates itself out of being virulent - causing disease - then we can stop worrying about it. But I think, looking in the future, we’re going to be doing this for years. We’re still going to be doing this 10 years down the line, in my view.”

 

The two COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca protect against the main British variant.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-02-11

 

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Next up: "Boris Johnson Lauds Fastest Growing British Export"

 

I wonder how long it will take to make it all the way back home to China

11 hours ago, ukrules said:

I wonder how long it will take to make it all the way back home to China

Not long probably. Could already be there. But like Thailand, they do a much better job dealing with it than the UK does.

Shhhh.  A SCIENTIST hath spoken. 

Let us pray that we too may reach those godlike powers that enable us to peer so far into the future.

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

We’re still going to be doing this 10 years down the line, in my view.”

 

So let's open up the borders and take it up the r..., we are born and we die, look out for the planes above because you never know when your luck will run out ????

 

14 hours ago, ukrules said:

I wonder how long it will take to make it all the way back home to China

 

You mean like the Spanish flu that started in Kansas ?

The virus has already "swept the world".  Viruses mutate, so there will always be new strains.  Not really necessary for such alarmism, Sharon.

please tell me, the flu vaccine was always a gamble for what virus might be "popular" NEXT YEAR, hence, kind of useless 

 

but now the super covid vaccine will protect you from nothing and everything, no mutations ?

 

in every infected person, the virus is mutating and adapting

 

but hey, every year a forced SHOT  +   boosters =   trillions to be made

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

There are three major known variants that are worrying scientists: The South African variant, known by scientists as 20I/501Y.V2 or B.1.351; the so-called UK or Kent variant, known as 20I/501Y.V1 or B.1.1.7; and the Brazilian variant known as P.1.

 

I thought it was racist and unscientific to refer to Covid as the product of a particular country?

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

You mean like the Spanish flu that started in Kansas ?

 

Except that it didn't. It started in China. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/1/140123-spanish-flu-1918-china-origins-pandemic-science-health/

41 minutes ago, Mike Rodik said:

please tell me, the flu vaccine was always a gamble for what virus might be "popular" NEXT YEAR, hence, kind of useless 

 

but now the super covid vaccine will protect you from nothing and everything, no mutations ?

 

in every infected person, the virus is mutating and adapting

 

but hey, every year a forced SHOT  +   boosters =   trillions to be made

Trillions to be made for good reasons. Saving the lives of millions.

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

There are three major known variants that are worrying scientists: The South African variant, known by scientists as 20I/501Y.V2 or B.1.351; the so-called UK or Kent variant, known as 20I/501Y.V1 or B.1.1.7; and the Brazilian variant known as P.1.

Essex people are getting envious. Jealous even. How come a variant has not come to Dagenham Dock?

 

We had the Ford Cortina; but that was yonks ago. A new saloon? The Ford Variant.

17 hours ago, onebir said:

Next up: "Boris Johnson Lauds Fastest Growing British Export"

 

At last - something the English are good at.

Bound to be foreign-owned...............

So Sharon Peacock got her 10 seconds of media exposure with variant to..  "sweep the world, in all probability"

Next expert please, to espouse more doom and gloom ????

38 minutes ago, John Drake said:

 

Except that it didn't. It started in China. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/1/140123-spanish-flu-1918-china-origins-pandemic-science-health/

Although not certain of the origins (from that link)...."Humphries concedes that a final answer to the mystery of the Spanish flu's origins is still a ways off".

48 minutes ago, John Drake said:

 

I thought it was racist and unscientific to refer to Covid as the product of a particular country?

Yes it is funny that many people on this forum Brits included did not mind when it was China who took the bad PR. Now that its the other way around they seem to have changed their mind.

Was it so difficult to close Heathrow ?

Or the island itself ?

New-Zealand didn't have any problems...

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

Although not certain of the origins (from that link)...."Humphries concedes that a final answer to the mystery of the Spanish flu's origins is still a ways off".

"This is about as close to a smoking gun as a historian is going to get," says historian James Higgins, who lectures at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and who has researched the 1918 spread of the pandemic in the United States. "These records answer a lot of questions about the pandemic."

Off topic misleading post removed

Let's hope it "mutates itself out of existence", as apparently SARS 1 did in 2003.

No vaccine administered and it just disappeared 

(I lived in Hong Kong during SARS, it was a bit scary for a while, but then miraculously vanished)

2 hours ago, robblok said:

Yes it is funny that many people on this forum Brits included did not mind when it was China who took the bad PR. Now that its the other way around they seem to have changed their mind.

Didn’t take you long to appear and have a pop at the Brits, why is it we never see anything Dutch on here ,must be an insignificant little place that is not worthy of any thing newsworthy 

48 minutes ago, orchidfan said:

Let's hope it "mutates itself out of existence", as apparently SARS 1 did in 2003.

No vaccine administered and it just disappeared 

(I lived in Hong Kong during SARS, it was a bit scary for a while, but then miraculously vanished)

I was in mainland China during SARS. Not scary, but difficult to move around. Eventually got evacuated on a Thai Air flight.

 

4,000 mutations so far with CV19. It's nothing like SARS and will probably be attacking us for the rest of our lives. Just like the Spanish flu.

2 minutes ago, andyg75 said:

Didn’t take you long to appear and have a pop at the Brits, why is it we never see anything Dutch on here ,must be an insignificant little place that is not worthy of any thing newsworthy 

How is this taking a pop at the Brits, just that there were a lot of people who had no problem when things were called wu flu ar Chinese flu whatever. But when something was named Brit variant they disliked it. Just shows bias. 

 

Not sure how that is aimed at all Brits as plenty of them saw it just like me virus did originate in China but viruses come mutate and go and you can't blame a certain country for it. That is why I don't blame the Brits for this more deadly version. It just happens its just foolish to blame countries for stuff like this.

 

As for the Dutch not being newsworthy, ill give you one some Dutch idiots were transporting the vaccines in a truck made for frozen snacks. Id say that is newsworthy and gives a bad impression of the Dutch. I really don't care much about where someone is from just dislike nationalists. 

 

I also don't take the stupid things that happen in my country personally, but a lot of people seem to go crazy if their country is mentioned in a negative way.

 

Same reason why i was against Brexit  in times like this nationalities should unite not separate. IMHO nationalism is often not a good thing. 

 

So just for the record I have nothing against Brits, (just some but i dislike some americans some dutch ect). This was just to show how bias SOME people are.

 

 

31 minutes ago, robblok said:

How is this taking a pop at the Brits, just that there were a lot of people who had no problem when things were called wu flu ar Chinese flu whatever. But when something was named Brit variant they disliked it. Just shows bias. 

 

Not sure how that is aimed at all Brits as plenty of them saw it just like me virus did originate in China but viruses come mutate and go and you can't blame a certain country for it. That is why I don't blame the Brits for this more deadly version. It just happens its just foolish to blame countries for stuff like this.

 

As for the Dutch not being newsworthy, ill give you one some Dutch idiots were transporting the vaccines in a truck made for frozen snacks. Id say that is newsworthy and gives a bad impression of the Dutch. I really don't care much about where someone is from just dislike nationalists. 

 

I also don't take the stupid things that happen in my country personally, but a lot of people seem to go crazy if their country is mentioned in a negative way.

 

Same reason why i was against Brexit  in times like this nationalities should unite not separate. IMHO nationalism is often not a good thing. 

 

So just for the record I have nothing against Brits, (just some but i dislike some americans some dutch ect). This was just to show how bias SOME people are.

 

 

Fair fair enough but why did you quote Brits included on blaming China ,why not Germans or French. It’s always the Brits

3 hours ago, John Drake said:

"This is about as close to a smoking gun as a historian is going to get," says historian James Higgins, who lectures at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and who has researched the 1918 spread of the pandemic in the United States. "These records answer a lot of questions about the pandemic."

 

"Humphries concedes that a final answer to the mystery of the Spanish flu's origins is still a ways off".

 

Seems like a difference of opinion between 2 historians!!

 

 

5 hours ago, John Drake said:

 

I thought it was racist and unscientific to refer to Covid as the product of a particular country?

Yeah this variant is a real Kent so to speak.It's locked down Victoria already for 5 days they said, unless it gets out on one of the 5000 possible close contacts in an airport terminal then they might be looking at another 3 months and that will be a real Kent! 

1 hour ago, andyg75 said:

Fair fair enough but why did you quote Brits included on blaming China ,why not Germans or French. It’s always the Brits

Why because there is no German or French strain named. So i could not use that as an example how some people are just bias based on where it started. Had it been an American strain id done the same. Its like showing how people respond to it if its from their own country. I think the American Trump lovers were worse then the the Brits who liked linking it to China but could not really use it as it was not an American strain. 

 

If you go back a while you will see that a lot were so happy to blame China (not that they are without blame totally but its not on purpose). Wu flu, Chinese flu and lots of people were all using it just to get a pop at China. Just now that there was a Brit strain all of a sudden some Brits found it offensive while when it was the wu flu it was not offensive. If it was an American strain I would have used that to make my point. Just to show there is a large anti China Bias.

 

Im no China fanboy as i think they are dangerous but at least should be some fairness in how things are judged. I just used this to point that out. Sorry if that came across as anti Brit. 

 

I am really more anti nationalistic. I get alone with almost anyone if they have similar hobbies / likes as me. I don't care if someone is Brit / German or Thai or whatever (as long as we can communicate).

 

 

 

I hope the Brits all get their vaccines soon and are cautious and make all

people who visit from outside Britain to quarantine for at least 14 days before

 being allowed to travel around the country.  If they keep their lax attitude, they will

keep spreading this virus and make the time to keep their population save even

longer.  I give the USA at least 3 to 4 years for all the anti vaxxers to quit spreading the

covid 19 virus or die off.  I do hope that anyone who refuses to vaccinate are ordered to

give up their passports so they have to stay in their country for at least 5 years.

  Nobody deserves to get thsi virus, and it has to be treated completely seriously by all 

of us. Red necks and all.

Geezer

On 2/13/2021 at 8:53 AM, Stargrazer9889 said:

I hope the Brits all get their vaccines soon and are cautious and make all

people who visit from outside Britain to quarantine for at least 14 days before

 being allowed to travel around the country.  If they keep their lax attitude, they will

keep spreading this virus and make the time to keep their population save even

longer.  I give the USA at least 3 to 4 years for all the anti vaxxers to quit spreading the

covid 19 virus or die off.  I do hope that anyone who refuses to vaccinate are ordered to

give up their passports so they have to stay in their country for at least 5 years.

  Nobody deserves to get thsi virus, and it has to be treated completely seriously by all 

of us. Red necks and all.

Geezer

Well compulsory quarantine for some people arriving in the UK started today, although 9 months too late. Vaccination may be going well, but conservative backbenchers are already demanding ALL restrictions should be lifted as soon as possible, and no later than May....... Seems that we are getting ready to keep the virus alive over the summer, so we can have another lockdown next winter ☹️. Some idiots never learn.