The New Variant of COVID-19

A virus is a small parasite that lacks metabolism and cannot reproduce by itself. Once it infects the host cell, the virus injects its genetic material, either Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) or Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA), thus leading to the production of more viruses. In late 2019, there was the rise of a new viral disease, COVID-19, that originated in Wuhan, China. Since then, the virus has infected 102 million and has killed 2.2 million people. The virus is already a serious issue due to its high infection rate. However, recently, the tensions have arisen more because of the new COVID-19 variants.

Viruses always change naturally. When a virus enters our body, our cells make copies of it. However, sometimes our cells may copy the virus’s genetic material incorrectly, leading to changes in the DNA or RNA of the virus. These are known as mutations and most of the time these changes will not alter the way the virus behaves. Similarly, the COVID-19 virus has also been mutated and this form of the virus is called a variant. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been many variants of COVID-19. However, the one that has recently caught much attention is the variant that emerged from the United Kingdom (UK).

B.1.1.7 is the name of the variant that emerged in the UK in the fall of 2020 and has shown up in 30 countries around the world. Research shows that B.1.1.7 is more transmissible compared to other variants. One of the mutations in this variant is the change in the shape of virus spikes. The Coronavirus uses its spikes to attach itself onto and enter human cells. Mutations in spikes lead to a greater ability for them to attach and enter cells. The mutation that makes B.1.1.7 coronaviruses more contagious, is called N501Y. N501Y occurs in the 501st amino acid of the spike protein which changes N (asparagine) to Y (tyrosine). Since the spike proteins form three sets of N501Y, the mutation shows up in three places, which gives a higher opportunity for the viruses to attach to the other cells.

Figure 1: Showing the N501Y mutations

Furthermore, there are some myths that the new variant is more transmissible but less deadly. However, there is no research suggesting that B.1.17 is deadly. Scientists advise that we need to be as precautious as we are for the typical Coronavirus. Moreover, another question arises about the efficiency of vaccines on the new variants. Regarding this question, most of the scientists believe that the vaccine is still effective because vaccines train the immune system to attack several parts of the virus, and even with some mutations in the spikes, the vaccine should still be able to destroy the virus. However, if the virus mutates more and it adapts to the vaccine, then the vaccine will not be effective. This is similar to the flu vaccine which is being updated every year. Thankfully, due to the development in the field of vaccination, it is very easy to update the vaccine. Thus, for now, we do not need to worry about the effectiveness of the vaccine but only to be careful to not get or spread the virus.

Written By:Farkhunda A

Edited By: Gisele F

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