Will the UK coronavirus mutation render the vaccine ineffective?

Concerns about the negative effects on the effectiveness of vaccines have increased after the British Prime Minister announced the outbreak of a much more contagious strain of coronavirus in the country. Several European experts have commented on the matter.

Yesterday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the discovery of a mutant type of coronavirus in his country that has increased its transmissibility by 70%.

The announcement has raised concerns that vaccines may become less effective, but experts say the mutation is unlikely to make them less effective. "I don't see any reason for alarm at the moment," said Richard Nehr of the Center for Biological Sciences at the University of Basel in Switzerland.

Andreas Bergthaler of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna also does not consider the current trend of developments in the coronavirus to be "very alarming."

Experts consider mutations in the virus to be natural and add that currently no one knows whether the changes observed in the coronavirus can drastically change its characteristics.

Regarding the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccine, they emphasize that it simultaneously generates an immune response against several features of the virus.

Richard Nehr of the University of Basel says that changes in several characteristics of the virus will not mean that the immune system can no longer recognize and recognize the pathogen. However, he emphasizes that it is still necessary to monitor further changes in the virus.

A strain of coronavirus has been circulating in southeastern Britain for the past few weeks, and based on initial observations, it is more contagious than previous versions of the virus.

Nahr says that it is fundamentally logical that this version of the coronavirus may spread more quickly, and if this is proven, restrictions will need to be significantly increased to prevent further spread of the virus.

However, he believes that the increase in cases of this type of virus may be just a coincidence resulting from the event that led to this outbreak.

Source: DW