Another coronavirus variant with a potentially worrying set of mutations has been detected in the UK and should be targeted in surge testing, experts have said.

The variant, known as B1525, is the subject of a report by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, who say it has been detected through genome sequencing in 10 countries including Denmark, the US and Australia, with 32 cases found in the UK so far. The earliest sequences were dated to December and cropped up in the UK and Nigeria.

The findings from the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), published on Friday on the government’s website, underscored concerns about how mutations may change the characteristics of SARS-CoV2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – and alter the course of the pandemic.

NERVTAG’s report was based on a dozen studies that found the so-called Kent variant, named after the county where it was first identified, is likely 30 percent to 70 percent more deadly than other versions of the novel coronavirus in circulation.

Those studies compared hospitalisation and death rates among people infected with the B.1.1.7 variant and those infected with other strains.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/15/uk-study-finds-kent-variant-may-be-70-more-deadly

The findings from the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), published on Friday on the government’s website, underscored concerns about how mutations may change the characteristics of SARS-CoV2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – and alter the course of the pandemic.

NERVTAG’s report was based on a dozen studies that found the so-called Kent variant, named after the county where it was first identified, is likely 30 percent to 70 percent more deadly than other versions of the novel coronavirus in circulation.

Those studies compared hospitalisation and death rates among people infected with the B.1.1.7 variant and those infected with other strains.

A Scottish care worker has revealed how she caught Covid twice within seven months.
Michelle Lamont, from Ardrossan in North Ayrshire, tested positive for the virus in April 2020.
But the 50-year-old was "stunned" when routine testing picked up the infection again in November.

... When the UK Covid death toll reached 100,000, it was a devastating milestone. Now it's over 117,000.

Many of us struggle to process such huge numbers, which get bigger by the day. Carrying on as normal seems inadequate, but what else can you do?...

Also, how can we best deal with those people that after a year, yet still do not believe or care that there is a pandemic and that themselves and all others around them are at risk?

Also, how can we best deal with those people that after a year, yet still do not believe or care that there is a pandemic and that themselves and all others around them are at risk?

What do you propose to do with idiots and morons? Do a bean counter on them, do they add or subtract more to society?

(Reuters) - A laboratory study suggests that the South African variant of the coronavirus may reduce antibody protection from the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE vaccine by two-thirds, and it is not clear if the shot will be effective against the mutation, the companies said on Wednesday.

Pfizer says South African variant could significantly reduce vaccine protection

(Reuters) - A laboratory study suggests that the South African variant of the coronavirus may reduce antibody protection from the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE vaccine by two-thirds, and it is not clear if the shot will be effective against the mutation, the companies said on Wednesday.

... “We don’t know what the minimum neutralizing number is. We don’t have that cutoff line,” he said, adding that he suspects the immune response observed is likely to be significantly above where it needs to be to provide protection.

That is because in clinical trials, both the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and a similar shot from Moderna Inc conferred some protection after a single dose with an antibody response lower than the reduced levels caused by the South African variant in the laboratory study.

Even if the concerning variant significantly reduces effectiveness, the vaccine should still help protect against severe disease and death, he noted. Health experts have said that is the most important factor in keeping stretched healthcare systems from becoming overwhelmed...

Acuitas, a tiny biotechnology firm in Vancouver, B.C., has just 30 employees and leases its labs from the University of British Columbia. The company doesn’t even have a sign on its building. Until last year, it outsourced production of only small volumes of lipid nanoparticles, fat droplets used to deliver RNA into cells, for research and a single approved treatment for a rare disease.

But now, one of Acuitas’s discoveries has become a precious commodity. A proprietary molecule called ionizable cationic lipid is a crucial piece of the mRNA vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, and it is in urgent demand to produce billions of vaccine doses worldwide.

Scaling up production of formerly niche substances such as lipid nanoparticles for a global vaccine drive has been among the most complex challenges facing the Biden administration as it aims to ramp up the frustratingly slow provision of shots across the country, according to interviews with company officials and outside scientists and government reports.

On Jan. 21, the new president’s second day in office, the Biden administration issued a report that cited shortages of lipid nanoparticles among “urgent gaps” in the vaccine supply chain.

“It’s on a scale that hasn’t been done before,” said Pieter Cullis, the Canadian scientist and Acuitas chairman who is considered a godfather of lipid nanoparticle technology.

Fighting COVID (with a side dish of budget pork for CA).
House COVID bill includes over $100 million for controversial Silicon Valley underground rail project.

"It doesn’t help one person get the vaccine or boost testing capabilities. This is just further proof that congressional Democrats view the reconciliation process as a means to push through their wish list – which includes forcing taxpayers to pay even more for an over budget and delayed construction project in one of the wealthiest poorest regions in the country."

Your telephone system is shambolic. You lack security concerns. Received a call a short time ago purporting to be your surgery. Caller requested to speak to my partner, a patient of your surgery, so passed phone over to her.
Call was to book a Covid jab & all went well until I heard my partner give her address & D.O.B. Banks & companies do not do this. They only require confirmation when the call is initiated by the client/customer/patient.

I interrupted call at that point & asked the caller to confirm their identity. All I got was that this is the doctors surgery & mentioned something about calling on mobile? Then she hung up.
Tried called the surgery & got told that I am 11th in queue, a short time later, that went to 10th..................
....gave up after 30 minutes waiting. Experienced numerous scam calls over the years which was the reason for the call to the surgery.
In this day & age with the amount of hacking & scams out there, don't you think your staff should identify themselves when they initiate calls?

As for using your online feedback form. Negative you ask for too much personal information which you have no need to have.
When you initiate calls, you have the patients details on screen so why ask for them along with failure to identity yourselves that has all the hallmarks of a scam.
I rate you 1/10
Just like a school teacher, I'll add a comment....
...Could do much better!

BTW, just like mine, her jab is someplace else out in the sticks. Another edge of the city. Sheesh.

Oh, if many think I am out of order, I recognised the voice, it was the surgery. Unless I initiate a call, I don't do personal info over the phone.