Tag Archives: epidemics

World

U.K. Covid-19 Variant Could Be More Deadly, British Officials Say

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LONDON—British officials warned Friday that a coronavirus variant first identified in the U.K. might be more lethal as well as more transmissible than previous versions of the pathogen.

The conclusions of scientists advising the British government are still highly uncertain. But British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a televised address that the variant—which has caused Covid-19 infections across the U.K. to spike and is spreading rapidly in the U.S.—could result in higher death rates.

U.S. federal health authorities have said it is likely to become the dominant variant in the U.S. by March.

“We have been informed today that, in addition to spreading more quickly, it also now appears that there is some evidence that the new variant—the variant that was first identified in London and the South East—may be associated with a higher degree of mortality,” said Mr. Johnson.

The tentative conclusions come as British hospitals cope with more Covid-19 patients than at any time during the pandemic. The Covid-19 death toll in the U.K. is expected to pass 100,000 in the coming week.

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Health

Studies of South African Coronavirus Strain Raise Concerns About Immune Response

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JOHANNESBURG—Three new laboratory studies are raising concerns that the immune response triggered by a Covid-19 infection or vaccination may be less effective at protecting against the new strain of the coronavirus that first emerged in South Africa.

The findings come from experiments done in the laboratory and only look at certain elements of a body’s immune response. Still, they reinforce the possibility that vaccine makers and regulators will need to update Covid-19 vaccines as the virus evolves.

A fourth study, conducted by scientists at BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc. and published by the companies, showed that their vaccine successfully neutralized a variant that was initially detected in the U.K. That study didn’t include the South African strain.

The U.K. variant has already spread to many other countries, including the U.S.

More than a year into the pandemic, the discovery of new variants that appear to have made the virus more contagious is forcing researchers to adapt their understanding of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. One concern, researchers said, is that the new strains are emerging in countries where a significant percentage of people have already built up an immune response to earlier variants after getting Covid-19.

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