The virus is believed to be an offshoot from Delta.
A briefing released by the UK Health Security Agency on Friday said that a new Delta sublineage, AY.4.2, is expanding in England. The body also stated that it is being assessed and monitored.
According to the report, AY.4.2 was responsible for approximately 6% of all sequenced coronavirus cases in the week that began 27 September. This trend is continuing.
AY.4.2 has two mutations in the spike protein. They are A222V (Y145H). The spike protein is located on the outside coronavirus and aids the virus in entering cells.
Ravi Gupta is a professor of clinical microbiology from the University of Cambridge and said that these mutations are not of concern. He said that A222V was also seen in other lines of Delta. It hasn't had a significant impact on the virus.
Gupta said similar mutations to Y145H were also found in the Alpha variant as well as other variants. These appear to affect the binding of antibodies and virus. However, Gupta stated that the effect was minimal.
He said that these mutations aren't really important. We should also look at the non-spike variants.
The rise in cases of new Covid variants has been a hallmark of the past. Last winter, the Alpha variant was a major factor in increasing cases, while the Delta variant took off, leading to dramatic increases in the spring. Daily Covid cases in England continue to rise: Saturday's report of 39,624 Covid cases was the highest since late July.
According to the Financial Times Dr Jeffrey Barrett (director of the Covid-19 Genomics Initiative at Wellcome Sanger Institute Cambridge) and Prof Francois Baloux (director of the University College London Genetics Institute London Genetics Institute) suggested that AY.4.2 might be 10-15% more transmissible then the original Delta variant.
They cautioned against it. It has only taken off in Britain, and I would not rule it out that its growth could be a result of a possible demographic event, Balloux said to the FT.
Balloux stated to the Guardian that the Guardian was unlikely to have been behind the recent increase in cases.
He said that the possibility of a higher transmissibility may only account for a small fraction of additional cases. It has a 10% frequency right now, and it would explain only 1% more infections [every five days].
Gupta stated that focusing on a new version was not the right approach. He also pointed out a few other important factors, such as the slow rollout jabs to older kids. Official figures show that vaccination rates for 12- and 15-year-olds in England were three times higher than those in Scotland.
Gupta said that we shouldn't blame the virus for the current situation in the UK. We have fundamentally failed in controlling transmission. This is because children are vulnerable. They have not been vaccinated and are returning to school. They are spreading the virus and feeding it to their families.
He said that all this was happening with Delta dominant. Research had shown that Delta dominant had a greater ability to evade an immune reaction than the Alpha variant.
He said that the virus can break through vaccines and protects you from some infection, but not all. Let's stop worrying about mutations, and instead focus on the fact that there is uncontrolled transmission in the UK.
