COVID19: Vietnam detects new UK-Indian variant- Spreads Quickly In Air
Vietnam has detected a Covid variant that appears to be a combination of the Indian and UK variants and can spread quickly by air, officials say. Vietnam’s Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long described the latest mutation on Saturday as “very dangerous”.
“Vietnam has uncovered a new COVID-19 variant combining characteristics of the two existing variants first found in India and the UK,” Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long told news agency Reuters. He said that the new coronavirus variant is an Indian variant with mutations that originally belong to the UK variant is very dangerous. Notably, Vietnam had previously detected seven virus variants: B.1.222, B.1.619, D614G, B.1.1.7 – known as the UK variant, B.1.351, A.23.1 and B.1.617.2 – the “Indian variant”.
Mr Nguyen said the new hybrid variant was more transmissible than previously known versions, especially in the air. He said it was discovered after running tests on newly-detected patients, online newspaper VnExpress reported. He added that the genetic code of the virus would be made available soon.
Research suggests that vaccines, such as the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs, are highly effective against the Indian variant after two doses, but protection from one dose appears to be reduced. There is no evidence that any mutations of the coronavirus cause much more serious illness for the vast majority of people.
As with the original version, the risk remains highest for people who are elderly or have significant underlying health conditions. But a virus being more infectious and equally dangerous will in itself lead to more deaths in an unvaccinated population.
(With Inputs From Agencies)