The AV.1 variant, which has caused 49 cases of infection in Yorkshire and the Humber region, was first detected in April. The “Yorkshire variant” has been labelled “triple mutant” as it carries three mutations associated with other variants of concern: E484K, which is also found in the South African variant and can in theory lessen the effect of vaccines; N439K which is also associated with immune escape; and P681H, which is in the Kent variant and linked to greater transmissibility.
While new variants emerge all the time – such as the Indian variant which has surged in the UK over the past week – government sources said this particular one carries other features associated with variants of concern. Dr Kev Smith, from PHE, said scientists had been watching and sequencing the variant since the “strange combination of mutations” were spotted a few weeks ago.
“So far the people that we have identified are not particularly
infectious, they’re not really getting more sick than other cases of
coronavirus and we’re not seeing anything particularly worrying about
it,” he said....<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>....
