Variant English, South African, Brazilian or Japanese ... Dr Jimmy Mohamed answers four questions around the variants of the coronavirus, which appeared a few weeks ago and are much more contagious.
It has been more than a year since the coronavirus entered our daily lives, disrupts our daily life and squats the media.
But in recent weeks, a new term has emerged: the "English variant".
You may have even heard of South African, Brazilian or Japanese variant.
If you have not yet fully understood what it is all about, Dr Jimmy Mohamed, who presents the health show Sans Rendez-vous, every day from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Europe 1 with Mélanie Gomez, enlightens you.
What is a variant?
Like many viruses, by circulating and transmitting themselves, the coronavirus that appeared last year in China produces copies of itself.
The problem is that these copies end up deteriorating.
"It's like when you make photocopies. The first one is of good quality, but as you make it, after the 100th or 200th, it is difficult to read what has been written," says Dr Jimmy Mohamed.
"The virus, as it replicates, will make little mistakes."
These errors may not change anything.
Or on the contrary, change the way the virus works, by making it weaker, less aggressive or conversely, more virulent, more contagious.
This is what happened with the English variant.
The coronavirus has mutated in its envelope.
Consequence: When the virus enters your body, it will attach itself to your cells much more easily and you will get sick much faster.
This is the reason why this variant is estimated to be 50 to 70% more contagious than the initial strain.
Is the vaccine effective on the English variant?
In the present state of knowledge, studies show that the vaccines developed and administered at the moment are effective against the English variant.
If the virus mutates again and the vaccine is no longer effective, the laboratories say they will be able to develop a new vaccine in just 6 weeks.
What is the risk of letting these variants circulate?
If we let the virus circulate freely, we increase the likelihood of having a new mutation.
And therefore a mutation that would perhaps be even more aggressive, more virulent and for which the vaccine would be ineffective, warns Dr. Mohamed.
"This therefore means that during the next phase of the vaccine, we will all have to be vaccinated. Or in any case, that we be as many as possible, to help put an end to the epidemic and try to regain life. normal ", adds the doctor from Europe 1.
Better a more lethal variant or a more contagious variant?
"Studies show that if we let the virus circulate, which will produce the most damage and cause the most deaths, it is a more contagious virus. Indeed, it will have more time to spread and therefore do more. Unlike a more aggressive virus, which would kill people faster, "says Dr Jimmy Mohamed.