The coronavirus mutation found in Spain will not affect the efficacy of the vaccine

• Study: The strain that came from Italy, mutated in Spain and dispersed in the second wave across Europe

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The new variant of the coronavirus that causes covid-19 and that has emerged in Spain will not have any negative impact on the development of a vaccine, according to the lead author of the study.

"We think that the mutation will not affect the efficacy of the vaccine," said scientist Emma Hodcroft of the Swiss University of Basel, an institution that has led the research in collaboration with the

, headed by the Higher Center for Scientific Research (CSIC).

As he explained, the vaccine targets specific parts of the virus that are not affected by the mutation.

Dozens of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are in various stages of research and development of vaccine candidates, with

to determine their efficacy and level of safety.

The genetic change suffered by the new variant of the coronavirus has neither increased its ability to spread nor its severity.

"It is very important to clarify that there is no evidence that the mutation is the cause of the spread of this variant and

" Hodcroft said in a virtual press conference.

"The cases increased again in Spain much earlier than in most European countries, with the exception of Belgium, and this coincides with the time when travel resumed," he added.

The fact that few countries made negative recent test results for travel as a condition and that people

may have been the biggest weaknesses of the prevention measures that were being adopted then.

The authors of the study think that the Spanish variant is not responsible for the second wave of the pandemic that Europe suffers, but the fact that governments have taken belated measures as autumn approaches, a season that lends itself to the transmission of viruses .

"

and turn on heaters, all of which allow the virus to travel more easily in the air," Hodcroft explained.

Two mutations per month

In the genetic sequences that scientists are extracting from coronavirus tests throughout Europe, the variant that appeared in Spain (probably between the end of May and the beginning of June) represents 29% of the total, while the second most expanded appears in 22 % of cases and it is the one that circulates essentially in France and Belgium.

However, it is normal for viruses to mutate frequently and, in the case of SARS-CoV-2, which causes covid-19, this occurs about twice a month.

"

In fact, SARS-CoV-2 is a very stable virus. What we want to convey is that although there are mutations, this does not change the structure of the virus or how it works," he stressed Hodcroft.

According to what scientists know, Valencia (Spain) would have been the first place where the variant circulated among the local population and there were initial cases among agricultural workers in the Aragon region.

Hodcroft considered that the spread of the new variant of the coronavirus in the latter group shows that

"This is not the first study to reveal that there were outbreaks among immigrant workers and among those living in crowded conditions," he said.

The variant discovered and very present these days in Europe comes, like others that have been identified, from the original coronavirus discovered in China at the end of 2019 and are part of the same family, so it should not be considered as something new.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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