Scientists first raised the alarm over new variants in December after the discovery of a Kent variant in September which was said to be 70 percent more transmissiwould ble by scientific modellers. This modelling was instrumental in the justification of a third lockdown as well as the cancellation of the lockdown break over Christmas. Since then others have been found, including South African and Brazilian. These have led to fears of greater transmissibility, lethality and possible resistance to vaccines. A new border policy aims to prevent new variants being introduced, with hotels being prepared to quarantine travellers from highrisk countries. But Prof Brookes said while mutations may slightly modify the target for the immune system, they would not render vaccines ineffective.