Coronavirus mutations will not trigger a new pandemic, but vigilance must be maintained. This opinion was expressed by the Director of the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization (WHO) Hans Kluge in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
According to Kluge, the emergence of new mutations in the coronavirus is a stark reminder that the virus hasn’t gone anywhere. At the same time, he noted that mutations are the natural evolution of viruses that seek to adapt to their new carrier, man. “This is not the beginning of a new pandemic, but of course we must be very vigilant,” Kluge stressed.
The head of the WHO European Office noted that mutations can cause re-infection in those who have already had COVID-19. In addition, the more infectious varieties of the virus spread faster, putting a heavy strain on health systems. “Finally, because they can affect the effectiveness of vaccines. Even the most common and familiar flu has mutations that require slightly different vaccines,” Kluge said.
Earlier, the WHO announced that the coronavirus strain detected in the UK was detected last week in six more countries, and their total number reached 86. In addition, the geography of the spread of strains identified in South Africa, Brazil and Japan has expanded. The South African type of COVID-19 as of February 8 was detected in 44 states, over the past week there were three more. The Japanese strain spread over seven days in five new states, and now there are 15.