Filenews 22 December 2020
As the vaccine for coronavirus has begun to be given to countries, a new concern has been raised by the news that its change has caused more communicability in Britain.
This news has brought dominoes of developments as one country after another closes its borders to travellers from Britain, while at the same time in the UK problems have arisen with food supplies from foreign countries.
However, the concerns of the British seem to be not in line with the global scientific community, as both the World Health Organisation and the World Medical Association seem to downplay the risks that the British claim to be hiding the coronavirus mutation.
How did the coronavirus mutation come about?
The coronavirus mutation was detected last September in Kent, England and so far apart from the south-east of the country, has been detected in Australia, South Africa, the Netherlands, Denmark and Italy. In all countries except Britain, the cases are isolated, while in England more than 1,100 carriers of the mutation have been detected.
Who it affects
According to epidemiological data from the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC), the mutation is mainly observed in people under 60 years of age. In Wales the average case is 41 years, while scientists in the UK say it affects children as well as adults.
What we know about the coronavirus mutation
With what they claim from London, what is known about the crown virus mutation is as follows:
-probably transmitted more easily, but data are still being collected,
-vaccines appear to still work against the new strain,
-does not create a heavier clinical picture and there is no greater risk of re-infection than this strain,
-the concern is that if it is transmitted more easily perhaps more people will get sick in a shorter period of time, and this will create more pressure on the health system in the coming weeks.
World Medical Association denies Britain's claims
Scientists, however, are reassuring in saying that this is an expected phenomenon and that there should not be such a strong concern.
At the same time, scientists yesterday challenged Britain's claim that the mutation affects communicability by 70%, seeking proof of these claims.
"We must treat all of Mr Johnson's statements with extreme caution. If, however, his statement that the new mutation of the coronavirus could be up to 70% more contagious than the previous virus is true, then it only means that our protection measures are 70% more important," World Medical Association president Ulrich Montgomery said in an interview to be published in today's newspapers of the "Germany Editors Network."
"The fact that the new mutation of the coronavirus is currently spreading in south-east England is mainly due to the negligence of the people there. Virus mutations are completely normal and we also see them over and over again in other pathogenic viruses,' he added.
"I've been doing this job for 25 years and I'm telling you that no one can identify a quantifiable number in such a short time frame," says Carl Henegan, professor of Evidence Medicine at Oxford University's Department of Primary Care. "Every expert says it's too early to draw such a conclusion," he adds.
Prominent Berlin infectious surgeon Christian Drosten also said he was not worried after the emergence of the new mutation of the coronavirus in Great Britain, saying it was "inflated" by the British as news, while the World Medical Association also disputed these claims.
What the World Health Organization says
And the World Health Organization stresses that mutation is a normal part of the process and there should be no panic.
"We have to find a balance. It's very important to be transparent, it's very important to tell the public things as they are, but it's also important to understand that this is a normal part of the evolution of the virus," Mike Ryan, the head of the WHO's emergency health department, said in an online briefing to reporters.
"So far, although we have seen many changes, many mutations, none have significantly affected either virus susceptibility to any of the current therapeutic substances and drugs nor to vaccines under development and there is hope that this will continue to be the case," said WHO chief scientist Sumia Souaminathan. The WHO said it expects to receive more details within days or weeks about the potential impact of the highly contagious new coronavirus strain.
No concern about the vaccine
As to whether this mutation affects the effectiveness of the vaccine, experts are equally reassuring. The European medicines regulator said there was "no evidence" that pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine does not protect against a new strain of coronavirus, something executives at both companies have expressed.
What Greek scientists say
Elias Mosialos was one of the Greek scientists who stressed that Boris Johnson's claims have not been confirmed and even gave answers about the mutation of the virus, but also because it has caused concern, stressing that there is no cause for concern for vaccines as well. Other experts such as the president of the Athens Medical Association Ath. He six-fingered, who said yesterday that a mutation cannot "give more communicability", while the rector of the EKPA, Th. Dimopoulos noted that mutations happen all the time.
Source: iefimerida.gr
