Mutating variants of Covid 19 pose more danger to human health. Although BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines are effective against the Delta variant, this new variant vaccine discovered in South Africa can circumvent. C.1.2 Covid-19 variant alarmed global health experts.
Variant C.1.2 can bypass vaccines
1.2 Covid-19 variant detected in South Africa and several other countries alarmed global health experts. It turned out that the variant in question did not respond to many Covid-19 vaccines. According to a study that has not yet entered the print stage, the C.1.2 variant does not respond at all to Covid-19 vaccines. It is also expected to be even more contagious than a normal Covid-19 virus.
The study, led by the South African National Institute of Infectious Diseases, KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, revealed that C.1.2, first detected in May 2021, evolved from variant C.1 that was last detected in January. The scientists discovered that C.1.2 “mutated significantly” compared to C.1. The new strain also has more mutations than the Covid-19 strain that originated in Wuhan, China, compared to any other Variants of Concern (VOC) detected worldwide so far.
C.1.2 has been seen not only in South Africa, but also in other countries such as China, England, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Mauritius.
Scientists report that the new variant undergoes mutations in a short time (41.8 mutations per year). This rate is now twice the global mutation rate that other variants have.
C.1.2 also has the N440K and Y449H mutations, which have been linked to the ability to evade certain types of antibodies produced by Covid-19 vaccines. Scientists believe these mutations likely mean that C.1.2 can evade vaccines or antibodies in people who have acquired immunity from Alpha or Beta variants.
Scientists state that more studies are needed to be sure whether C.1.2 is more dangerous than the currently dominant Delta variant.
