LONDON: The Brazilian variant of coronavirus can spread rapidly and bypass immune system defenses, according to a new study.
A team of scientists from Brazil and the UK said the so-called P1 variant is about 1.4 to 2.2 times more transmissible than older versions of coronavirus that exist in the Brazilian city of Manaus, where the new variant originated.
P1 can also dodge 25-61 percent of the immunity built up from previous infection, said researchers from Imperial College London and the University of Sao Paulo. The results of the study are awaiting peer review.
Meanwhile, Prof. Christophe Fraser of the University of Oxford warned that P1 “can re-infect people who have been infected naturally.”
He told Sky News: “In Manaus, that population had had an incredibly high infection rate in the first wave, and yet was re-infected.”
He said: “What we don’t know is the degree of protection the vaccines provide against this strain. We have quite a lot of data that suggests we should be a little bit concerned over the possibility that it could spread.”
He added: “It may be we have to update the vaccines, but we really don’t want to be updating the vaccines before the summer.”
