The vaccines being rolled out across the Uk to combat Covid-19 may not work against the South Africa variant of the disease, according to one of the scientists behind the Oxford AstraZeneca jab.
New variants of the disease are now spreading across the UK, and while experts say the vaccine should work against the Kent mutation, there is much less certainty around the South Africa strain.
A number of cases of the mutation have already been found in the UK, prompting tough new rules banning travel between the countries.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was “incredibly worried” about the South African variant after the intervention by vaccine leader Sir John Bell, reports The Mirror.
Sir John, regius professor of medicine at Oxford, said that of the two, “I would worry a lot about the South African strain. The mutations associated with the South African form are really pretty substantial changes in the structure of the protein.
“My gut feeling is the vaccine will be still effective against the Kent strain. I don’t know about the South African strain - there’s a big question mark about that.”
Mr Hancock said: “I’m incredibly worried about the South African variant, and that’s why we took the action that we did to restrict all flights from South Africa.
“This is a very, very significant problem... even more of a problem than the UK new variant.”
If the virus does change, then it should be possible to tweak the vaccines without going through full regulatory approval. Sir John estimated that would take a month to six weeks.
Sir John, who sits on the Government’s vaccine taskforce, told the Times: that this was to be expected and that manufacturers had anticipated it.
He said: “Everyone should stay calm. It’s going to be fine. We’re now in a game of cat and mouse. These are not the only two variants we will see. We are going to see lots of variants.”
