4,000 Covid-19 variants emerge as UK explores mixed vaccine shots
The world faces around 4,000 variants of the virus that triggers Covid-19, prompting a race to boost vaccines, Britain said on Thursday, as researchers commenced to explore mixing doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots in a global first. A large number of variants have already been documented as the virus mutates, including the so-named British, South African and Brazilian variants, which may actually spread more swiftly than others.
British Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said it had been very unlikely that the existing vaccines wouldn't normally work against the new variants. "It is rather unlikely that the existing vaccine won't be powerful on the variants whether in Kent or additional variants specially when it comes to extreme condition and hospitalisation," Zahawi advised Sky News.
"All suppliers, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and others, are looking at how they can enhance their vaccine to make certain that we are prepared for just about any variant; there will be about 4,000 variants all over the world of Covid nowadays." While thousands of variants have arisen as the virus mutates on replication, only a very small minority will tend to be important and to change the virus within an appreciable way, according to the British Medical Journal.
The trial will examine the immune responses of an initial dose of Pfizer vaccine accompanied by a booster of AstraZeneca's, as well as vice versa, with intervals of four and 12 weeks. The trial will be the to begin its kind to incorporate an mRNA shot - the main one produced by Pfizer and BioNtech - and an adenovirus viral vector vaccine of the sort produced by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca's shot is separately being examined in combo with another viral vector vaccine, Russia's Sputnik V.
