Sharon Peacock, director of the COVID-19 Genomics UK consortium, expressed concern about the spread of the Kent-originated strain as it is starting to “get new mutations”

The new variant of the coronavirus first found in the British Kent region is concerning because it could undermine the protection offered by vaccines against the COVID-19 disease, said the head of the UK genetic surveillance program, Sharon Peacock.

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The Kent variant will sweep “the world, in all probability,” Peacock, who serves as director of the COVID-19 Genomics UK consortium, told the BBC.

The coronavirus has killed 2.35 million people and affected normal lives, but the new variants have raised concerns that vaccines must be adjusted and people need to reinforce the inoculation.

Peacock noted that the vaccines so far are effective against the variants in the UK, but the mutations could undermine vaccination results.

“The worrying thing about this is that variant 1.1.7. that we have had circulating is beginning to mutate again and obtain new mutations that could affect the way we handle the virus in terms of immunity and efficacy of vaccines,” Peacock said.

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The new mutation, first identified in Bristol, in the southwest of England, has been designated as a “variant of concern” by the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group.

So far there are 21 cases of this variant that has the E484K mutation, which occurs in the spike protein of the virus, the same change that has been seen in the South African and Brazilian variants.

There are three main known variants of concern to scientists: the South African, known to scientists as 20I / 501Y.V2 or B.1.351; the British or Kent, officially 20I / 501Y.V1 or B.1.1.7; and the Brazilian, called P.1.

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The two COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer / BioNTech and AstraZeneca protect against the main British variant.

“Once we have controlled the virus or it has mutated to stop being virulent, that is, to cause disease, we can stop worrying about it. But I think that going forward, we will continue to do this for years to come. In my opinion, we will continue to do so for 10 years,” he concluded.

(With information from Reuters)