The new COVID-19 variant detected in South Africa poses an even greater risk than the highly infectious strain that has appeared in patients in the UK, the British health secretary said on Monday.
Secretary Matt Hancock called the South African version “a very important issue” in a Monday interview on BBC radio.
“I am incredibly concerned about the South African version and that is why we have taken the measures we have taken to restrict all flights in South Africa,” he said during the program. “This is a very, very significant issue … and it’s even more of an issue than the new UK version.”
Hancock told ITV News that the strain found in South Africa “seems even easier to pass on than the new version we saw here [in the UK]. “
Only two cases of the South African variant have been documented in the UK, but officials hope to keep a check, as 55,000 new cases of coronavirus were reported in the country on Sunday, according to the report.
“We have to take that into account, because it’s even harder to deal with than the UK version,” he said.
Hancock’s concern stems from fears that vaccines will not be as effective against the South African version as they are in the UK. ITV political editor Robert Peston wrote on Twitter, citing one of the government’s scientific advisers.
Oxford University scientist Sir John Bell told Times Radio on Sunday that more research was needed and “there is a big question mark” over whether the vaccines will work on the new strain, known as 501.V2.
But Bell added that he doubted the vaccines would become completely ineffective against the variant.
With Post threads