How Dangerous is the New Vaccine-resistant COVID-19 Variant?

German researchers have identified a new variant - A.30 - that might be able to escape the immune system. However, only five cases were found in the world, none in the past five months.

A rare COVID-19 variant that has been detected in multiple patients across Angola and Sweden during Spring 2021 may be extremely successful at evading vaccine-induced antibodies, suggests a recent study published in Nature Molecular and Cellular Immunology.

Viruses constantly mutate. While most mutations have no consequences, a cluster of mutations can engender a new variant, and the virus may create a different protein as a consequence.

Coronavirus
Coronaviruses infect animals, humans, and birds. Human coronaviruses, such as SARS, MERS, and 2019-nCoV cause respiratory distress and even death. The S protein is the infectious agent of the virus.

‘The A.30 COVID-19 variant reliant on vaccines to protect against coronavirus may pose a distinct threat in the world but remains isolated for now.’

In the case of the coronavirus, the key protein to consider is the spike protein, which is found on the surface of the virus and allows it to penetrate host cells and cause infection.

The A.30 variant probably originated in Tanzania and was detected in individuals in Angola and Sweden, presents significant mutations in the spike protein in which the vaccine-produced antibodies target.

To discover how dangerous the variant may be, researchers used multiple human cell lines to study how successfully the virus can infect host cells, before subjecting it to neutralizing antibodies that develop post-vaccination.

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Compared to Beta and Eta, A.30 showed significantly improved entry into most host cells, including kidney, liver, and lung cells, and was resistant to a monoclonal antibody therapy currently employed against COVID-19.

When tested against vaccine-induced antibodies from the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccines, A.30 was more resistant than the other variants tested at evading them, suggesting a reduced efficacy of the vaccines.

COVID-19 Vaccination in India: Issues and Challenges
India’s COVID-19 vaccination program has been launched. It currently uses the vaccines Covishield and Covaxin. There are some issues and challenges that need to be overcome in order to vaccinate all Indians.

The researchers conclude that this variant may be more adept at entry into cells while possessing a toolkit to effectively evade current vaccines.

They also suggest that A.30 should be closely monitored in the coming months and countries should prioritize preventative measures that would stop an outbreak if A.30 were to become more widespread.

Cytokines - Part of Body's Defence System
Cytokines are chemical signaling molecules produced by immune cells of our body and help cells in the human body to communicate with each other. They are involved in inducing immune response and growth regulation.

Source-Medindia