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Covid-19: British report suggests variants may challenge pandemic strategies
- Possible scenarios outlined by group advising British government suggest containment plans must go beyond vaccines
- Coronavirus may need to be managed like seasonal flu, Hong Kong expert says
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China has administered 1.8 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses as of Wednesday, and is racing closer to herd immunity. But how will the country and others around the world deal with new variants that escape vaccine protection?
While experts said that vaccines are still effective against Covid-19, breakthrough infections and vaccine resistance linked to the Delta and Lambda variants are causing concern.
A British government advisory group has predicted a future in which Covid-19 will always be around, and recommends that authorities plan ahead for a more deadly variant or one that eludes vaccine protection.
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The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) predicted that future variants could be resistant to vaccines by using a different spike protein to bind to human cells. Many Covid-19 vaccines work by recognising the spike protein, according to a report by the group published on July 26.
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Covid-19 Delta variant cluster spreads in China’s eastern Jiangsu province
Covid-19 Delta variant cluster spreads in China’s eastern Jiangsu province
The emergence of a variant with mortality rates similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) at about 10 per cent or Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) at about 35 per cent was also a realistic possibility. Two different variants of Sars-CoV-2, the coronavirus causing Covid-19, could recombine and cause more infections and deaths, the report said.
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