It might be hard to believe but it’s been almost one year since the Coronavirus pandemic started, although we have been under lockdown for around 8 months. People of the world have been just getting used to this new normal, and then there’s a new development that has caught us off guard.
Scientists in Russia have reported that the Coronavirus is mutating in Siberia, and it might have unexpected consequences.
Here’s what a Russian scientist said
According to Anna Popova, head of Russia’s Rospotrebnadzor, many different mutations in the Coronavirus have appeared. She did not give any details on whether these mutations would make the virus more deadly or contagious. She said in a scientific symposium, as reported by Interfax:
“We’re seeing certain changes in the proteins, and these changes detected in Siberia allow us to assume that this region is forming its own version [of coronavirus] with certain mutations.”
Meanwhile, Russia is going through a massive second wave of COVID-19, and while the US hasn’t even recovered from the first wave yet.
Coronavirus has spread from Moscow to other regions of Russia, and 75% of the new deaths and cases are coming from these new regions are now. Hospitals have reported overflowing morgues and shortages of healthcare workers.
The virus from China is died out, the current COVID-19 is something else
Anna Popova also said that they also analyzed the genome of the foreign and domestic coronavirus strains currently active in Russia, and found that they had imported strains from Europe but not from China.
“There are no strains circulating in Russia that would have been brought from China earlier this year.”
This simply means that the original virus from China is probably died out, and the currently active Coronavirus is a different one that has mutated and evolved from the original.
Will the vaccine still work on the mutant virus?
Russia is going through the final phase of testing its vaccine Sputnik V, which is considered the first COVID-19 vaccine in the world. So the common question arising is that will the vaccine still work if the virus mutates?
The common consensus among the scientists right now is that the mutation will not influence the vaccine’s effectiveness on the virus.
Featured Image Courtesy: New Harp