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After the emergence of a South African and a British Corona variant, a mutation from Brazil is now causing alarm. The P1 variant is not only spreading faster, but is also causing headaches for researchers for another reason. As the journal “Science” reports, the mutation could also already infect genesis.
Must the vaccine be improved?
The situation in the megacity of Manaus is particularly alarming. The capital of the state of Amazonas recently registered the most hospitalizations in connection with Covid-19 since April – as a result, even the oxygen ran out.
Until now, scientists had assumed that herd immunity had already been achieved in the city, where 75 percent of citizens had already been infected with Corona. Researchers now fear that the mutation could escape the immune response and re-infect immunized individuals. It is unclear whether the new variant will also affect previously approved vaccinations.
Brazil, a nation of 210 million people, is one of the countries hardest hit by the Corona pandemic. So far, about 8.5 million people in Latin America’s largest country have been confirmed to be infected with the corona virus. More than 209,000 patients have died in connection with Covid-19. Because of the huge increase in hospitalizations related to Covid-19, the health care system in the Amazon metropolis of Manaus recently collapsed.
The National Health Surveillance Authority has now granted emergency approval to each of Sinovac’s and AstraZeneca’s Corona vaccines. Five directors voted unanimously in favor in a live-streamed, five-hour meeting on Sunday.
- source: oe24.at/picture: pixabay.com
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