UK Corona variant will soon 'sweep the world', scientist warns Peacock also said vaccines approved for use in the UK appeared to work well against the existing variants of the virus Friday February 12, 2021 10:31 PM, IANS London: The Covid-19 variant, which was first detected in the UK's Kent last year, is set to become the dominant strain and is going to sweep the world, the head of the UK's genetic surveillance programme said. "The new variant has 'swept the country' and 'it's going to sweep the world, in all probability'," Sharon Peacock, Director of Covid-19 Genomics UK (Cog-UK) told the BBC.