A new Corona variant was discovered in France. And it has more mutations than Omicron. How dangerous is B.1.640.2 actually?
The Corona variant ‘Omikron’ from South Africa *, which is currently much debated in Germany, is becoming more and more rampant. In other countries such as France, the mutation is now the most dominant. And in Germany, too, more and more experts are now assuming that ‘Omikron’ will prevail as a variant. On Thursday, January 6th, the federal and state governments will discuss the corona situation and new measures. And according to HEIDELBERG24 * a shortening of the quarantine time * is already under discussion.
The reason for this is the knowledge that ‘Omicron’ is more contagious than the original Corona mutation, but is less bad in its course. In addition, more and more people in Germany are vaccinated against the corona virus. And anyone who has already received their booster vaccination with Biontech or Moderna * usually does not have to worry about a difficult course. Because according to echo24.de, an mRNA vaccination against ‘Omikron’ * works much better than expected.
New Corona variant B.1.640.2: According to experts, more mutations than Omicron
Instead, experts are concerned about a completely new Corona variant, which has now been detected for the first time in France. The first person to be identified was a man who had returned to France from a trip to Africa. The researchers therefore assume that the new mutation could have come from Cameroon, where the man was staying. According to information from the Johns Hopkins University, the vaccination rate in Cameroon is extremely low at 2.4 percent.
And new variants always develop where few people are fully vaccinated. But how dangerous is the mutation that experts have now christened B.1.640.2? And almost as important: Do the corona vaccines against the mutant from France even work? Experts from the French government report in relation to a preprint study (preliminary study) that this new variant has significantly more mutations than ‘Omikron’. A total of 46 mutations have been identified.
New Corona variant B.1.640.2: This is how dangerous the new mutation really is
For comparison: the Corona variant ‘Omicron’ only has 37 mutations. These mutations in B.1.640.2 include the already known mutations N501Y and E484K. According to reports from the picture , N501Y is also contained in the alpha variant – i.e. the one called the original Corona variant. It is therefore known that N501Y binds more strongly to the cells and can therefore spread better. That in turn could mean that B.1.640.2 is even more contagious than ‘Omicron’.
Briefly and simply informed: These are mutations
Viruses like the coronavirus multiply by smuggling their genetic information into the body cells of the infected person. The viruses multiply their genetic material – they ‘copy’ themselves. In the course of reproduction, there are always ‘errors’ in individual copies. Such changes to a copy in the genome of a host cell are called ‘mutations’. The virus that was newly created because of the ‘faulty copy’ is known as the virus variant. Such natural mutations are harmless in many cases. But sometimes such mutations also give a virus advantages – for example, because they increase the transferability and thus make the virus more contagious.
And that could make the new Corona variant extremely dangerous. The reason: Especially in densely populated industrial countries like Germany, such easily transmissible pathogens have an easy time of it. The other known mutation E484K of the new variant is, according to the first findings of the experts from France, a so-called escape mutation, which can influence the effectiveness of vaccines against Corona *. This aspect would also suggest that B.1.640.2 could become dangerous.
New Corona variant B.1.640.2: Concern about the effectiveness of vaccines
However, it must be borne in mind that the data mentioned from France on the new Corona variant ‘B.1.640.2’ come from a preliminary study and still need to be independently assessed. In addition, further research is necessary in order to clearly clarify whether and in what way ‘B.1.640.2’ is really more dangerous than ‘Omicron’, ‘Delta’ or the original variant ‘Alpha’. Good news about the new variant is that corona vaccines can be adapted to new mutations.
For this, however, the corporations need time. Even the easily adaptable mRNA vaccines from Biontech or Moderna need an average of 100 days to adapt to a new variant. And the two companies are currently working on such a vaccine update for ‘Omikron’. It is not yet known when this will be ready and can be vaccinated in Germany. The original vaccines are currently still being inoculated. * HEIDELBERG24 and echo24.de are offered by IPPEN.MEDIA.
List of rubric lists: © Hendrik Schmidt / dpa-Zentralbild / Symbolbild
