The new variant of coronavirus identified in the UK has not been detected in Ireland so far, according to Irish experts.
As the Irish Times reports, Dr Cillian de Gascun, director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory said that based on the available sequence data the novel variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus has not been detected here.
The new variant is currently present in the UK and Denmark only, according to European scientists tracking the genetic mutations of the virus.
Dr de Gascun said this highlighted the continued importance of surveillance and maintaining public health measures.
Professor Moynagh, from Maynooth University also said that people should not rush to be concerned over the newly identified mutation.
“This is what viruses do, and coronavirus is no different,” he said, pointing out that there have been thousands of mutations of SARS-CoV-2 so far.
Based on the available sequence data @nvrlucdireland the novel #SARSCoV2 🦠#UK #variant has not been detected in #Ireland🇮🇪 (ROI) to date. With thanks to colleagues @firefoxx66 @nextstrain @GISAID Highlights importance of #surveillance #HoldFirm #EveryContactCounts #COVID19
— Cillian De Gascun (@CillianDeGascun) December 15, 2020
Vaccine response
He said he would not be concerned about the potential of the mutation to affect the efficacy of vaccines, although it does involve a mutation in the spike protein.
Yesterday the UK health secretary Matt Hancock told the Commons that more than 1,000 cases of the new virus strain had been found in almost 60 areas, predominantly in southern England.
He suggested the new strain was growing faster than already existing variants but stressed that clinical advice suggested it was “highly unlikely” the mutation would fail to respond to a vaccine.
Public Health England (PHE) said that as of December 13th, 1,108 cases with this new variant had been identified. It has been named VUI - 202012/01 - the first variant under investigation in December.
British virologist Dr Chris Smith said this morning that despite being spread more quickly, the new variant of coronavirus may not be any “nastier.
