WHO: There is no evidence that mutated virus in mink affects vaccine efficacy

WHO: There is no evidence that the mutated new coronavirus in mink will affect the vaccine effect 

　　Xinhua News Agency, Geneva, November 6 (Reporter Liu Qu) Experts from the World Health Organization said on the 6th that there is currently no evidence that the latest mutation of the new coronavirus that infects farmed mink in Denmark will affect the effectiveness of the future new crown vaccine.

　　The Danish government recently announced that in view of the fact that there have been many cases of mink transmitting the mutated new crown virus to people in the country, the government has decided to culminate all domestic mink farms and impose stricter epidemic prevention restrictions on 7 cities with more mink farms Measures.

Danish Minister of Health Magnus Hojnik said at a press conference on the evening of the 5th that the mutation of the virus may have an impact on the effect of the new coronavirus vaccine under development.

　　Sumia Swaminatan, the chief scientist of the WHO, said at a press conference on the 6th that he is now aware of how this mutation affects the spread of the new coronavirus, the severity of clinical illness, the immune response, and the effectiveness of the potential new coronavirus vaccine. It is too early to draw conclusions.

　　Maria Van Kelkhoff, the technical leader of the WHO health emergency project, also believes that the mutation of the new coronavirus gene is normal, and the organization has been tracking the virus mutation since the beginning of the new coronavirus pandemic.

Certain mutations in the virus may have some impact, but WHO still needs to conduct further research and evaluation, and related work is currently in progress.

　　According to Michael Ryan, the executive director of the WHO emergency project, it will take more time to determine the spread of the new crown virus in the mink group and between the mink and people.

The existing evidence does not show how this mutant new coronavirus spread by mink is different from the past in its behavior.

"The characteristics of the virus may be slightly different, but it is still the same virus." He said that WHO is currently cooperating with relevant parties to complete the first risk assessment of the Danish new crown virus "mink transmission" incident.

　　Although Denmark has culled farmed minks due to the spread of the new crown virus in farmed minks, Peter Ambarek, a virus expert in the Department of Food Safety and Zoonoses of WHO, emphasized at the press conference that other farmed animals are infected with the new crown virus. The risk is much smaller than that of mink for two reasons: First, research shows that farmed animals such as pigs, chickens, and cattle are not as susceptible to the new coronavirus as minks. Even if they are infected, the virus cannot be as easily as in minks. Maintain and spread; secondly, the current modern breeding system for pork and chicken production allows us to completely isolate the virus and protect the environment from pollution, which means it is easier to prevent and control the new coronavirus from entering the breeding environment.