There’s now another dimension to the race to get people vaccinated. The coronavirus is mutating, potentially making current vaccines less effective against it. This isn’t a catastrophe – the vaccines still work. But preliminary data suggests their ability to protect against certain variants of the virus is now weaker.
Anything that undermines control efforts needs responding to, and vaccine manufacturers have duly stepped up. Professor Andrew Pollard, a senior researcher involved in the development of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, has said a booster that can handle the new variants should be ready by the autumn. Pfizer and Moderna have also said they are looking to develop such boosters. GSK and CureVac are also working on a new vaccine that can handle the many variants now emerging.
: Advanced Sampling Process Instruments (ASPI) Ltd with Glasgow Caledonian University
This five-year project has led to the development of technology for automating a key process within wastewater treatment plants that use bacteria to break down contaminants.
The device, which is currently undergoing trials at a number of locations, can be used to automate both settlement analysis and bacterial activity analysis, two processes that are key to optimising the energy efficiency of treatment plants but which are currently performed using time consuming manual techniques.
Whilst there have been previous efforts to automate these tests, these have proven to be both expensive and unreliable. According to its developers the In-process Liquid Sampler (ILS) resolves these problems with an elegant system that enables plant operators to collect near continuous data.
HIV infections down after rollout of prevention drug, study finds thecourier.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thecourier.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
MUTANT NINJAS
There are 4,000 Covid mutations in circulation – from Brazilian to South African strain, which are the most dangerous?
4 Feb 2021, 11:31
Updated: 4 Feb 2021, 11:53
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THERE are around 4,000 coronavirus variants now in circulation around the world, the UK s Vaccine Minister has revealed.
Nadhim Zahawi said there was a library of Covid mutations being stored to ensure the country was ready to respond with updated vaccines.
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There are 4,000 Covid variants in circulation worldwide, the UK Vaccine Minister has saidCredit: Getty Images - Getty
Thousands of variants have been documented as the virus mutates, including the UK, South African and Brazilian variants.
Speaking to Sky News today, Mr Zahawi said it was unlikely that the current vaccines wouldn t work against these new mutations.
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If thereâs one coronavirus mutation that keeps scientists awake at night, itâs E484K. The mutation was found in both the South African variant (B1351) and the Brazilian variant (P1), but not in the UK variant (B117). This so-called âescape mutationâ raised fears that the approved COVID vaccines may not be as effective against these variants. The E484K mutation hasnow been found in the