Opinions differ on the effectiveness of vaccines against the new strain of Covid-19 observed in the United Kingdom.

On Europe 1 Monday morning, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran wanted to be reassuring.

But for Philippe Froguel, geneticist at the Lille University Hospital, we do not have sufficient hindsight to confirm it.

DECRYPTION

London and the south-east of England have urgently reconfigured themselves for at least three weeks, while several European countries, including France, announced Sunday to temporarily suspend their links with the United Kingdom.

These measures follow the discovery of a new strain of Covid-19 in the archipelago, and which would be much more contagious than the one already circulating on the continent, according to statements by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

This situation raises fears of the appearance of a third wave of contaminations on the continent, but also questions the effectiveness of vaccines already manufactured, and whose distribution must begin in the European Union by the start of the next year.

Outbreak of contaminations

"This virus mutates with a very high frequency and the more there is a significant viral circulation, the more there is a chance that a favorable mutation for the virus is selected", explains at the microphone of Europe 1 the geneticist Axel Kahn.

"This is undoubtedly what we are observing in Great Britain and perhaps also in South Africa", where the Ministry of Health also spoke on Friday of the appearance of a new strain to explain a recent outbreak the number of contaminations.

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Can the mutation observed across the Channel make the vaccines that are arriving obsolete?

"No, because all the other antibodies that are developed by vaccines will continue to be effective", wants to reassure Axel Kahn.

Guest of Europe Morning this Monday, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran indicated that the vaccines which should soon arrive in France did not target the part of the virus concerned by this new mutation.

“At this stage we have not identified a variant of the virus in the world on which vaccines are not effective,” he said.

Little perspective on the vaccine, but ...

But for Professor Philippe Froguel, geneticist at Lille University Hospital, we do not have sufficient hindsight to really determine the resistance of vaccines to this new form, "because not enough people have been vaccinated", he points out. .

"But the advantage is that an RNA vaccine is easier to manufacture and modify."

This would allow some laboratories to quickly review their formula.

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"The appearance of a new more contagious strain also means that there will be more infected people", notes Axel Kahn, even though no scientific data yet allows to inform the degree of contagiousness of this variant.

"Even if the vaccine strategy is interesting, to be ideal, it would have to be accompanied by a colossal effort at European level to reduce viral circulation", he adds, while Italy has just arrived. 'start a third containment, and that Austria has already announced a strict containment which must begin after Christmas.