Therapy Areas: Vaccines
UK imposes travel restrictions on South Africa due to new COVID-19 variant
26 November 2021 -

The UK has expressed concern over a newly identified COVID-19 virus variant spreading in South Africa, called B.1.1.529, that might make vaccines less effective and endanger efforts to fight the pandemic, Reuters news agency reported on Friday.

The UK Health Security Agency said that the variant has a spike protein that was dramatically different to the one in the original coronavirus that COVID-19 vaccines are based on. Scientists said lab studies were needed to assess the likelihood of the mutations resulting in greatly reduced vaccine efficacy.

Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, was quoted as telling broadcasters: "What we do know is there's a significant number of mutations, perhaps double the number of mutations that we have seen in the Delta variant. And that would suggest that it may well be more transmissible and the current vaccines that we have may well be less effective."

The UK has rushed to introduce travel restrictions on South Africa and five neighbouring countries. It has temporarily banning flights from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Eswatini from 12:00 hours GMT on Friday, and returning UK travellers from those destinations would have to quarantine.

Javid said more data on the variant was needed, but the travel restrictions were necessary as a precaution.

Earlier on Thursday, South African scientists said they had detected the new COVID-19 variant in small numbers. The variant has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong, but the UK Health Security Agency said no cases of it had been detected in Britain.

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