Brazilian variant?

[StealthPolarBear]

Has anyone heard? BBC flashed something up but no real detail.
Apolgies if there's already a thread on this, I couldn't see one.

Yes, more concerns about the vaccine not being effective with this strain.

Hopefully we will do better at keeping the strain out by banning people entering the country if they have been in S America in the last ten days.

BBC News: UK-bound arrivals from South America and Portugal will be banned from Friday over concerns about the Brazilian coronavirus variant.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55666198

Yes I saw about the flights but that's the first I heard of it. Nothing about it before that as far as I can see.

Article from Forbes yesterday: www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2021/01/13/how-new-covid-19-variants-might-impact-vaccines/
"E484K appears to give SARS-CoV-2 an element of disguise, making it less recognizable to the antibodies a vaccine trains to eliminate it."

Thank you, I'll have a look. I wonder if there will be a press conference tonight, there's usually one on a Thursday, isn't there?

@StealthPolarBear

Thank you, I'll have a look. I wonder if there will be a press conference tonight, there's usually one on a Thursday, isn't there?

I think we are back to regular press conferences every evening now.

It has been in the news the past few days OP

This must be a bigger concern than the South Africa variant if they are trying to ban all flights from South America? People are still coming in from South Africa, albeit through transit though another country.

It's wise (although not very encouraging) to remember that it is unlikely to be a coincidence that the three countries to identify the three significant variants - us, S Africa and Brazil - all do much more genome sequencing than most other countries.

That is, there will be other unidentified variants in other countries....

To block flights from a whole continent is quite extreme

Is that the one you just down each side?

The UK is at the forefront of genome sequencing too isn't it, and of course we've identified one

@testingtesting321

To block flights from a whole continent is quite extreme

My thoughts exactly. Also will Mexico be included? It's not SA but people love to include it. People from Colombia will have next to no contact with that strain.

its probably already in the uk

passengers returning to Hong Kong had it, god knows where else in the world its already travelled to.

Still no mention of a press conference

There’s been several variants now including a home grown one so unless everyone everywhere permanently stays in their own back yard I don’t see what else we can do? 🤷🏻‍♀️

The worry is it seems to have originated in Manaus, Brazil, an area that was thought to be nearing herd immunity (76% of people were estimated to have had C19 by late October). Cases are rising there again and there’s at least one confirmed report of this new variant affecting someone who’s had covid before.

mobile.twitter.com/BillHanage/status/1349207412159504384

Lots of interesting stuff on his account, thanks @CoffeeandCroissant

So to a non-scientist, it looks like it will never end. For the first time, I'm feeling really low about this.

@ajandjjmum

So to a non-scientist, it looks like it will never end. For the first time, I'm feeling really low about this.

Me too. Feels never ending. :(

Pandemics do end, even historically with it modern medicine
(I tell myself that when I feel the same)

I don’t have much to say but it is depressing

@JanuaryChill

It's wise (although not very encouraging) to remember that it is unlikely to be a coincidence that the three countries to identify the three significant variants - us, S Africa and Brazil - all do much more genome sequencing than most other countries.

That is, there will be other unidentified variants in other countries....

It could also be due to these countries all having very high transmission rates which increased the chance of mutation.

I was hoping this variant made all your pubes fall out ?

( misses the point, so backs away slowly )