UK Covid Variant Now in 70 Countries, South African in 31, Says WHO

As per a recent announcement by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UK variant of the coronavirus has spread to 70 countries. In addition, the South African Covid-19 variant has been spread to a total of 31 countries. Meanwhile, the coronavirus variant found in Brazil has now been reported in 8 countries.

As per results of some recent studies, the UK variant is said to have shown a relatively greater transmissibility and increase in disease severity. Nonetheless, WHO has emphasised that these results are preliminary and more analysis is required to confirm the findings. In the UK, decline in the cases of novel coronavirus has been observed. WHO added that similar declines in incidence have also been reported in Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands.

It must be noted that US biotechnology company, Moderna Inc recently made an announcement that its Covid-19 vaccine will showcase high efficiency against the new variants found in the UK and South Africa. Regardless, Moderna Inc will perform an additional booster dose of its vaccine mRNA-1273 to analyze its ability to further increase neutralising activity against emerging strains.

Stéphane Bancel, Moderna CEO informed that the company is working towards the emerging variant booster candidate.

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Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.