Monday March 8, 2021, 9:29 AM
Across the world, women are leading the charge in the fight against Covid-19. Credit: Twitter/Pfizer/Zhejiang University/BioNTech/ITV News/PA/University of Cambridge/University of Edinburgh
By ITV News
With more than 136 million people across the world now having received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, the world appears to be turning a corner in the fight against coronavirus.
While some countries are operating normally, albeit with strict border controls, for others such as the UK which have been amongst the hardest hit by the deadly disease, the rollout of the vaccine makes it seem as if the end, or at least a return to some semblance of normality, is just around the corner.
A coronavirus variant that was first discovered in the United Kingdom has since been found in more than 80 countries, prompting fears that it is on its way to becoming the dominant form of the virus .
The coronavirus variant first recorded in southeast England is likely to “sweep the world” and become the most dominant global strain, the head of the United Kingdom’s genetic surveillance programme says, as concerns mount over emerging mutations of the virus.
Since being detected in September in Kent, a county known as the “garden of England” and popular with commuters because of its proximity to London, the B.1.1.7 variant has spread to more than 50 countries.
The strain caused enough concern to force a new national lockdown in the UK and has led to global panic.
Experts have said it may be up to 70 percent more infectious and about 30 percent more lethal than other variants.
A variant of the coronavirus that first emerged in the U.K. could become the dominant form worldwide, the head of the U.K.'s virus surveillance program says.