UK Covid-19 vaccinations: Latest figures
The B.1.617.2 variant of coronavirus, first identified in India, is likely 20 to 30 per cent more infectious than the previously dominant Kent one, a genomic sequencing expert has said.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Dr Jeffrey Barrett, of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, warned the so-called Indian variant was quickly growing and when probed for a figure on its transmissibility said: “If I had to guess today, it would be 20 or 30 per cent rather than 50 per cent [more infectious than Kent].”
But he admitted “there is still uncertainty, 50 per cent might be a reasonable worst case scenario.”
Meanwhile health officials are investigating another new variant, which has caused 49 infections, mostly in Yorkshire and the Humber region. Public Health England (PHE) said it has been monitoring the VUI-21MAY-01, or AV.1, strain since April.
The agency stressed there was “currently no evidence that this variant causes more severe disease or renders the vaccines currently deployed any less effective”, and asked people in the area to…
