Britain Aids Other Countries In Identifying New Virus Strains
BRITAIN AIDS OTHER COUNTRIES – A month into the new year, it seems as the coronavirus got a new year’s resolution of its own. As netizens on social media say “the virus literally said, “new year, new me”.
Currently, health experts are looking out for three new coronavirus strains – the UK, South African, and Brazilian strains. Compared to the previous iterations of the virus, these variants were found to be more transmissible.
Naturally, this poses a problem, especially for countries that don’t have the proper tools to detect the new variants. As such, Britain announced it would share its genome sequencing technology to other countries with lesser ability to do so.
With the new variants running amok, scientist raise concerns of a possible “vaccine-busting” strain. Unfortunately, even with the new vaccines, the possibility of the coronavirus developing to such a level would mean new lockdowns and more travel restrictions.
Because of this, Britain wanted to give the world access to its genome sequencing platform. According to an article from Reuters, U.K. Health Minister Matt Hancock said:
Our New Variant Assessment Platform will help us better understand this virus and how it spreads, and will also boost global capacity to understand coronavirus, so we’re all better prepared for whatever lies ahead
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had alarming concerns about the UK variant. The new virus strain can possibly cause higher mortality rates compared to others.
Furthermore, scientists also noted that variants from Brazil and South Africa may be less affected by the vaccine. However, Moderna said they were confident that their vaccine would protect against both the British and South African strains.
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