A New Mutant Coronavirus Variant: Should You Be Worried?

As new vaccines have begun to meet with FDA approval, the United States was just beginning to start hoping for a world beyond the COVID-19 pandemic when news broke of a new mutant variant of the coronavirus still ravaging countries all over the world. Understandably, the idea of a mutant variant has raised concerns with researchers and healthcare professionals all over the world.

So what do we know so far about this mutated version of COVID-19 and how worried should we be?

Where It Started

The initial development of a mutant variant of COVID-19 occurred when researchers were trying to discover the source of an unexpected outbreak that occurred in Kent, a southeastern county in England. After performing genetic sequencing on several samples from people that had gotten sick, they discovered a surprising number of mutations (around 23 in total, 17 non-synonymous and 6 synonymous).

This is unusual as, most commonly, a virus will mutate perhaps once or twice during the course of a month. Most importantly, it seems as though these particular mutations could cause issues. One mutation may help the virus bypass the immune system response, while another might make it easier for the virus to bind to human cells.

It is likely these mutations developed during just one individual’s fight with coronavirus. Such a scenario is quite common, particularly when a virus finds itself faced with medical obstacles, though usually these mutations die out within the individual. In this case, the theory is that this mutated variant escaped into the world.

Is It More Dangerous?

The research on this new variant is still in its early stages, but at this point, researchers have drawn a few cautious conclusions. Though there is no evidence that this variant will cause individuals to get a more severe illness, there is research that indicates it is much more contagious than the initial form of the virus. This is significant, as with greater infectiousness comes increased numbers of infections and potentially more deaths.

Will the Vaccine Still Work?

The good news is that preliminary research seems to indicate that the vaccines currently in development that are beginning to receive approval for emergency use might still be effective against this new variant. At a lab in Galveston, Texas, Vineet Menachery (assistant professor microbiology and immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch) tested the efficacy of serum samples taken from patients that had already recovered from COVID-19 on the virus with and without the new N501Y mutation, finding no difference.

In spite of this encouraging new research, the best way to fight against virus mutation is to lower the chances of transmission by practicing social distancing, wearing masks, and using good sanitation practices.