• On Sunday, a Swiss newspaper published an interview with a scientist in which the latter hypothesizes a "Covid-22" which could emerge under certain conditions.

  • The words of this immunologist were then misinterpreted on social networks and in some British tabloids.

No, there is no such thing as a “Covid-22” super variant that has just emerged.

The fake news spread like wildfire

on social media this week.

Tuesday, Internet users are worried about this “Covid-22” on Twitter after the emergence of an associated hashtag.

The day before, British tabloids headlined the emergence of a "new super variant Covid 22" which "could be even more dangerous than the Delta".

FAKE OFF

Where does this super variant story come from?

This is a misreading of an interview with a scientist living in Switzerland, published Sunday in German and French in the newspaper 

Blick

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Sai Reddy, associate professor of immunology at Basel, is asked about the future of the pandemic and the existing variants.

The “next phase of the pandemic”, according to the scientist, will be “when [existing variants] Beta or Gamma become more infectious or Delta develops escape mutations [the ability to escape antibodies]”.

These developments, if they take place, will be "the big problem for the year to come".

"The 'Covid-22' could be even worse than what we are currently experiencing," he continues. 

Prepare for new changes

Thus, it is these potential developments that the scientist nicknamed "Covid-22".

He then notes himself that the occurrence of a variant is not certain: “If such a variant emerges, we need to detect it as early as possible and vaccine manufacturers need to adapt vaccines quickly.

He calls for "preparing" for such an eventuality.

To limit the risk of such a scenario, Sai Reddy encourages as many people as possible to get vaccinated. 

At the moment, however, this scenario is not yet a reality.

And no other immunologist speaks or has detected, for the moment, of "Covid-22".

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