The new Corona strain ... Why did it panic in the world? Are vaccines effective with it?

A worldwide concern arose after a new strain of Corona appeared in Britain, which was described as more contagious than other strains.

Experts indicated that this new strain of corona is rapidly spreading, so when was it first discovered?

Is it more contagious?

Is it more fatal?

And why did the world panic?

Answers are in this report.

When was the new strain of corona first discovered?

Scientists first discovered the new strain in a patient last September, and Public Health England informed the government last Friday when the process of preparing models revealed the full risk of the new strain.

Last Saturday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and England's top medical official, Chris Whitty, said that the Public Health Authority had discovered the new strain and had now confirmed that it spread more easily than the original strain of the virus.

Where did the new strain appear?

It is believed that the new strain of the virus appeared in Britain, and several infections were also recorded in Denmark and one infection in the Netherlands and Australia, according to the World Health Organization.

"We think it may be present in other countries as well," said the British government's scientific advisor, Patrick Vallance. "It may have started here, we don’t know for sure."

How did the mutation happen?

The variable is extremely mutated in an unusual way, and the most likely explanation is that the mutation appeared in a patient with a weakened immune system unable to overcome the virus, and instead his body became fertile ground for the virus to mutate, according to a report by James Gallagher in the "BBC" (BBC).

Is the new strain more infectious?

Yes, as scientists believe that the new strain of the Corona virus is transmitted 70% faster, and this explains the great and rapid reaction from the British government and other countries in the world, as the new strain prompted the British government to quickly re-impose restrictions on 16 million people in London and southeast England. Yesterday, Sunday.

Health Minister Matt Hancock told British television that the virus was "out of control" in the United Kingdom, as it caused an increase in infections and hospitalizations.

He added, "It will be very difficult to keep this virus under control until a vaccine is circulated," hinting that the restrictions may last for "two months" at least.

"Unfortunately, the new strain is out of control, we have to control it," Hancock told Sky News.

"Due to the rapid spread of the new species, the initial data, and the rapidly increasing infection rates, the new strain could spread more quickly," Valance said.

Why did the new strain hit the world in panic?

While the countries of the world are struggling to control the high number of new infections and deaths from the Corona virus, a new strain appears that causes a huge jump in cases and leads to its loss of control over the Corona pandemic among its population.

A spokeswoman for the World Health Organization branch in Europe told the French press that, "In parts of Europe - where the infection is transmitted strongly and on a large scale - countries must double their restrictions and preventive measures."

In the European Union, several countries warned flights from Britain, and the Netherlands was the first country on Sunday to announce an immediate ban on flights from Britain, with similar directives throughout the day from Belgium, Austria, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Sweden.

Ireland will also impose a 48-hour ban on flights to Britain, while ferry traffic will be limited to shipping goods.

Germany has banned nearly all flights from Britain starting at midnight, with few exceptions, including cargo planes, and the German Interior Ministry has also issued orders to police to immediately start examining passengers from Britain.

And from outside Europe, the Canadian government also announced that it would impose a 72-hour ban on flights coming from Britain, starting Monday.

For its part, the American authorities are monitoring "very carefully" the new strain of the emerging corona virus that is spreading in the United Kingdom, but they do not plan to impose a travel ban on this country at the present time, according to what was announced yesterday, Sunday, by senior officials in the health sector.

Is the new strain of corona more deadly?

So far, the data says that the answer is no, as the chief medical officer in Britain, Chris Whitty, indicated that while the new strain is much more infectious, "there is no evidence at present indicating that it causes a higher death rate or affects vaccines and treatments, despite the fact that the work Urgently underway to confirm this. "

Are the vaccines that have been used for Corona virus effective against this new strain?

Yes, as the German government announced on Sunday evening that European Union experts had reached a conclusion that the current anti-corona virus vaccines are effective to combat the new strain of Covid-19.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn - whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union - told the public television channel ZDF: “Based on everything we know up to now and following meetings between experts of European authorities, there is no effect (of the new strain) on Vaccines that are still effective. "

"That would be very good news," the minister added.

He was referring to the "Pfizer-BioNTech" vaccine, which has been used by several countries in the world and is expected to soon obtain approval from the European Medicines Agency.

And before that, Valance had stated that the Covid-19 vaccines seemed to be appropriate in stimulating an immune response to the new strain of the virus.

For his part, the head of the US government efforts to develop the Corona vaccine, Doctor Moncef Al-Salawi, told "CNN" that the vaccine is likely to be effective against the new strain.

is this happened before?

Yes, the Corona virus - which was first discovered in Wuhan, China - is not the same that we will find in most parts of the world, according to a report by James Gallagher in the "BBC".

The D614G mutation appeared in Europe last February, and it became the prevailing global form of the virus, and there is another type called “A222V” (A222V) that spread throughout Europe, and was associated with the summer vacation in Spain.

What do we know about the new breed?

An initial analysis of the new strain was published and identified 17 potentially important changes, and there were changes in the "spike" protein, which is the key the virus uses to open the entrance to the body's cells.

One mutation called N501Y alters the most important part of the spike known as a "receptor-binding domain". This is where the spike first comes into contact with the surface of the body's cells, and is likely to give it any Changes that facilitate the entry of the virus into the interior of an additional capacity for infection.

Also, a mutation was recorded that led to the deletion of a small part of the spike, and the name of this change is “H69 / V70 deletion”. Studies indicate that this change makes the antibodies from the blood of survivors less effective in attacking the virus.