A Covid variant thought to carry more mutations than any other strain has been found in Tanzania, according to researchers.
Virologists said it looked further removed from the original Wuhan virus than any other strain known to science, including variants found in Kent, South Africa and India.
It was first picked up in three travellers who got tested at an airport in Angola after flying there from Tanzania in mid-February.
Researchers examined samples in a laboratory and found the virus had 34 changes, 14 of which were on the spike protein that it uses to latch onto human cells and cause illness.
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April 21, 2021
LONDON: Putting India on the travel red list was a necessary step due to an “upward trend” in UK cases involving a potentially worrying variant, a public health expert has said.
Sharon Peacock, the head of the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK) and professor of public health and microbiology at the University of Cambridge, said it was currently unclear whether the variant first identified in India was behind its current wave, but there was enough concern to warrant slowing the number of cases coming into the UK.
On Monday, Boris Johnson was forced to cancel a trip to India while Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Commons that 103 cases of the variant had been identified in the UK so far. The variant also known as B.1.617 was first noted internationally in October and first identified in the UK on February 22. It has 13 mutations including two in the virus’ spike protein known as E494Q and L452R.
Covid vaccine news - live: EU to reveal findings on J&J ‘clot link’ as Scotland lockdown to ease on Monday Kate Ng
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The European Medicines Agency are preparing to present the results of their investigation into possible links between the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine and rare blood clotting cases later today.
Last week, Johnson & Johnson suspended its vaccine rollout in the EU after the US Food and Drug Administration recommended officials pause its use while the rare food clot cases are examined. Six cases of the rare clotting disorder were identified in the US, out of nearly 7 million people who were given the single-dose jab in the country.