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A look around the world: Concerns over A 30 variant
Some concerns are being expressed in other countries about the A.30 variant, with a study by German researchers finding that its spike protein has mutated heavily and that it evades vaccine-induced antibodies with high efficiency.
Five infections caused by this variant have been identified – three in Angola; one in Sweden; and one in the United Kingdom (UK).
The researchers have stated that the A.30 variant can evade the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines. Their findings have been published in ‘Nature’, a leading multidisciplinary science journal, on October 25.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has not dubbed it a ‘variant of concern’ or ‘interest’.
Situation in other countries
There has been a recent spike in infections driven by the Delta variant in the UK, a look around the world found, with health authorities calling for the re-introduction of some COVID-19 restrictions, such as mandatory face coverings in crowded and enclosed spaces, to avoid a winter crisis.
But the British government has said that there are no plans to activate the so-called ‘Plan B’ for winter but would continue to monitor the data. Vaccination had weakened the link between cases, hospital admissions and deaths.
On Wednesday, Singapore logged a record 5,324 new COVID-19 cases and 10 more deaths, the first time the country’s daily tally breached the 5,000 mark.
Meanwhile,Israel experienced more than 10,000 infections a day in late August and early September. However, a mass campaign to administer a booster dose of the vaccine has brought down the numbers to just a few hundred.