Scientists are keeping their fingers crossed that the newest Covid-19 variant believed to be already circulating in Botswana and South Africa is not resistant to vaccine immunity.
The new and most highly mutated Covid-19 variant yet, which was first detected in South Africa is believed to have spread to Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritius, New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland. New Covid-19 variants develop as a natural evolution of the virus, and fears that variants might evolve to avoid vaccine immunity have been around for a while now. The South African department of Health revealed on Friday that they will know in the coming weeks if the new variant is resistant to vaccine immunity or not.
The variant, identified by researchers from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, is being referred to as the “C.1.2 lineage”.
The majority of C.1.2 lineage sequences from around the world so far are from South Africa. Research shows that the new variant is “highly mutated beyond all other variants of concern and variants of interest”, with up to 59 mutations from the original Covid-19 variant detected in Wuhan. Fears that Covid-19 variants might evolve to avoid vaccine immunity have been around for a while now.
New Frame quoted South Africa’s deputy Director General of the Department of Health, Anban Pillay, on Friday saying, “scientists are looking at [the] in vitro effectiveness of our vaccines on this lineage. We expect some of the results to be available in the next couple of weeks.” Pillay was quoted saying the prevalence of the new variant in the samples that have been tested “is very low at this stage”. Nevertheless, the number of C.1.2 genomes being sequenced in South Africa have seen monthly increases similar to those observed in the early days of the Beta and Delta variants. In May, C.1.2 made up 0.2% of all genomes sequenced. In June, that number had risen to 1.6%, and by July it was 2%. According to the researchers, the currently available figures “are most likely an underrepresentation of the spread and frequency of this variant within South Africa and globally” While Pillay pointed out that “the similar variant lineage [to C.1.2] has been around since our first wave, but has not become dominant”, research shows that the new variant is “highly mutated beyond all other variants of concern and variants of interest”, with up to 59 mutations from the original Covid-19 variant detected in Wuhan.
Previous variants of concern, like the Alpha, Beta and Gamma variants, had increased substitution rates – which means they accumulated mutations that made them a more serious threat to humans – similar to what has brought about the C.1.2 variant. While not yet a variant of concern, C.1.2 is potentially a variant of interest.
Cathrine Scheepers, one of the lead authors of the research, told the South African media the new variant “probably emerged following a prolonged Covid-19 infection and accumulated additional mutations, likely to escape the immune response”.
Scheepers said the researchers, who are “concerned” about the variant, continue to monitor its spread but do not yet know whether the combination of mutations in C.1.2 makes the lineage more transmissible. While data regarding the variant’s ability to sidestep immunity is not yet available, some of the mutations may “influence immune escape”. The mutations – 52% of which have been identified in other variants of concern and interest – present “a potentially novel antigenic landscape for C.1.2 variant specific antibodies”, and will likely contribute to evading immune responses resulting from the Alpha or Beta variants.
South Africa’s Department of Health has alerted the World Health Organization, which is monitoring the situation.
