Written By: Satata Karmakar | Published : February 25, 2021 2:28 PM IST
A new highly transmissible and intractable COVID-19 variant has been detected in New York.
According to the reports, the new variant called B.1.526 is spreading uncontrollably and can pose a serious life threat. The researchers have stated that the new COVID-19 variant carries a highly dangerous mutation that has the capability to weaken the effectiveness of vaccines.
The highly contagious coronavirus variant was initially detected in samples that were collected in New York in November last year. The study showed that by mid-February about 12% of the total COVID-19 cases were found infected with the new variant.
Why is this bad news when mutations are happening everywhere? According to the study authors, all the highly contagious coronavirus variants so far had one thing in common. One area of the spike protein - E484K is present in all the three contagious variants namely - the newly found coronavirus strain in New York - B.1.351, the variant that was identified in South Africa, and P.1.
According to the reports, this particular part of the spike protein - E484K can affect the body's immunity and weaken it against the virus.
The South African variant of coronavirus - B.1.351 was first detected in October 2020. What was concerning about this variant was that the strain had the ability to evade the antibodies produced by the body to fight any foreign virus.
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