Fear of new Corona Killer mutation My – Will this virus variant escape vaccines?
For months, the so-called My variant of the coronavirus has dominated the infection scene in Colombia. But the variant has now also been registered in some countries in Europe. Scientists are concerned that this variant could become more dangerous than the Delta variant. This is because apparently the My variant can at least partially evade vaccine protection.
Japanese researchers study My variant of coronavirus
Researchers from Japan have found in their studies of the My (pronounced “Mü”) variant of Sars-CoV-2 that it has a frightening immunity to antibodies. Because of this, this mutant could now pose a new challenge in the pandemic. One of the biggest fears of scientists at the moment is that My could possibly mix with the dominant delta variant. This would presumably result in the formation of a new variant that is extremely infectious and also very resistant. My, which scientists refer to as variant B.1.621, is most prevalent in Colombia and its South American neighbours. In Colombia, around 128,000 people have died since the start of the pandemic. A total of two-thirds of the current cases are believed to be due to the My variant.
My variant has also been detected in other countries
To date, 43 countries have officially confirmed recorded cases of My. In Japan, researchers have now studied what exactly happens when the viruses are exposed to serum containing antibodies. For this purpose, antibodies from people who had previously been immunized with the Biontech vaccine were used, as well as antibodies from people who had previously experienced Covid-19 disease. The same serum was then tested on other Covid-19 variants. The researchers found that the My variant was the most resistant to the antibodies. The variant is 7.6-fold more resistant to the antibodies formed during vaccination and even 12.4-fold more resistant to the antibodies of convalescents. Thus, My is also significantly more resistant than the Beta variant. “Fortunately” Beta has been largely displaced by Delta because the Delta variant spreads more effectively. However, it has weaker resistance to antibodies. It is unclear how strongly the My variant can spread. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has stated that “there are no reliable data on this as yet”. There the My-variant is classified as “worrying”. Already in September, SPD health politician Karl Lauterbach had warned against the My variant: “If a variant like My also mutates to a high level of infection, that would be extremely dangerous. With billions of unvaccinated people possible at any time.”