Serious concern mutant Covid strains like South Africa variant could evade vaccines, warns Vallance

COVID variants such as the one from South Africa are a "real issue of concern", Sir Patrick Vallance has warned.

The Chief Scientific Adviser said there are unanswered questions as to whether the immune system will be able to attack the "more worrying" strains.

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It means scientists are still unsure whether those who have immunity from either infection or a vaccine are protected against new strains.

Both the variants from South Africa and Brazil have a mutation which is known to essentially evade some antibodies.

The UK variant, found in Kent, does not have this mutation. There is still a possibility it will dodge antibodies, but Sir Patrick said this seems unlikely.

Speaking on Sky News this morning, Sir Patrick – who has helped guide the Government through the pandemic – answered questions from the public.

He said there are some laboratory studies of the South African variant which suggest "this may be a virus that can escape some of the immune effects of antibodies" – but "we don't know to what degree".

"We should get information on clinical effects because vaccinations are occurring in South Africa, in Brazil and other places variants may occur, so we should get some more information on that. 

"They are more worrying in the sense they are a little more different in terms of how the immune system recognises them.

"It is a real issue of concern. It's something we need to keep an eye on.

"But we don't have all the answers yet. I would just caution the laboratory studies are not perfect predictors so we need to get clinical data."

The immune system creates killer antibodies when it is exposed to the coronavirus pathogen, or a vaccine.

If a person is later infected with the virus, the immune system has a memory of the "spike" on the surface, and is primed to attack it.

However a change in the shape of the spike protein makes it more difficult for the immune system to recognise the virus.

The variants that emerged from South Africa and Brazil share a mutation called E484K.

Professor Francois Balloux, director of UCL Genetics Institute, has previously said the E484K mutation has "been shown to reduce antibody recognition".

"As such, it helps the virus SARS-CoV-2 to bypass immune protection provided by prior infection or vaccination", he said.

Pfizer recently discovered its Covid vaccine, being rolled out across the UK, protects against a mutation in all three of the new variants, called N501Y.

However, the E484K has not yet been studied yet and so is still a cause of concern.

The CEO of Moderna says he believes the firm's coronavirus vaccine will be effective against the variants from the UK, South Africa or Brazil, MailOnline reported.

Sir Patrick gave the promising news that scientists are "increasingly of the view" that immunity build from either prior infection or vaccine will be effective against the variant discovered in Kent.

He added: "For some of the others popping up around the world, and they will continue to pop up, we still have some question marks over how effective the vaccine will be. Those studies need to be continued.

"I think it's likely we will need to have modified vaccines in due course.

"I  wouldn't be at all surprised if we needed slight variations of the vaccine to make sure we keep on top of this. Changes will occur all over the world, viruses mutate, I would expect to see more of that going forward."

But Sir Patrick said vaccines are "relatively easy to change" and it only takes a few weeks for the jab to be modified in the lab, before reaching people's arms.

Sir Patrick has previously said the variants may weaken – but not "abolish" – the effect of vaccines.

It comes after scientists claimed up to half of people with immunity against Covid due to prior infection are vulnerable to catching the South African variant.

The study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, found that 48 per cent of blood samples from people who had previously been infected with existing strains did not show an immune response to the new South African variant.

Researchers warned that "we could have a problem" when it comes to new variants and how they are received by people who have already contracted and overcome Covid-19.

In a separate study by researchers in Washington, experts looked at blood samples of people with antibodies for older strains and how they reacted to the new variant.

From 11 samples, nine shows reduced binding from antibodies after being exposed to the variant.

What are the new variants are in the UK?

Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed in mid-December that a new coronavirus variant was spreading in the UK, having emerged in Kent in September before rapidly spreading in the south.

This variant, called VUI 202012/01, has swiftly become dominant in the UK and has been largely blamed for the so-called "third wave".

Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed the new South African strain, called 501.V2, had entered the UK in late December.

It is thought that 54 Brits have contracted the strain so far – however these cases were picked up from random samples, so it could be the case that infections of the variant are much higher.

Experts have previously warned the South African variant can't be picked up by testing – a person carrying it would test positive, but the test cannot distinguish if they have the new variant, or an older version.

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson then revealed on January 13 the Government was "concerned" about a new Brazilian variant.

Two variants have been identified in Brazil; the first has a small number of mutations and 11 confirmed cases of this variant have been identified in the UK.

The second, which has been detected in Manaus and travellers arriving in Japan, has not been detected in the UK.

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