Dödligt virus från Kina orsakar panik (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19)

The World Health Organization has called an emergency meeting to discuss a new coronavirus variant, first identified in South Africa and Botswana, that is believed to be spreading faster than thought.

The meeting will take place on Friday, and will discuss the so-called B. 1.1.529 Sars-Cov-2 variant.

Tulio de Oliveira, the director of the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation in South Africa, told the Financial Times he was “worried” and that he had discussed the new variant with WHO officials earlier this week, who decided to call the emergency meeting. He estimated that about 90 per cent of new cases in the South African region of Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg, were caused by the new variant.

Any new variant that is able to evade vaccines or spread faster than Delta could pose a serious challenge as the world emerges from the pandemic.

De Oliveira said there were traits present in the new variant that have previously been associated with high transmissibility. “And the key question to be answered is what exactly is the effect on the vaccines,” he added.

Soumya Swaminathan, the chief scientist of the WHO, said the new variant had “a number of worrying mutations in the spike protein”.

The WHO said that the panel would discuss whether the variant should be deemed of “concern” or of “interest”.

“Early analysis shows that this variant has a large number of mutations that require and will undergo further study,” said the WHO.

Moore’s team — which provided some of the first data on Beta’s ability to dodge immunity — has begun work on B.1.1.529. They plan to test the virus’s ability to evade infection-blocking antibodies, as well as other immune responses. The variant harbours a high number of mutations in regions of the spike protein that antibodies recognize, potentially dampening their potency. “Many mutations we know are problematic, but many more look like they are likely contributing to further evasion,” says Moore. There are even hints from computer modelling that B.1.1.529 could dodge immunity conferred by another component of the immune system called T cells, says Moore. Her team hopes to have its first results in two weeks.

Because this variant (B.1.1.529) can be detected by a normal qPCR due to deletion at Spike position 69-70 (like Alpha), it will make it easy for the world to track it. We estimate that 90% of the cases in Gauteng (at least 1000 a day are this variant, due to qPCR proxy testing)