Britain's Vaccine Chief Says World Faces 4,000 COVID-19 Variants
2021-02-07
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1The head of Britain's vaccination deployment effort says the world faces around 4,000 variants of the virus that causes COVID-19.
2As a result of new mutated versions, vaccine manufacturers are looking for ways to improve the shots to resist the virus variants, Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said Thursday.
3British researchers plan to test a mix of two vaccines - the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca injections - to see if the two together can create stronger immunity.
4Experts say thousands of individual changes arise as the virus mutates and develops into new variants over time.
5However, only a small number of mutations are likely to change the virus in an important way, the British Medical Journal reports.
6So far, the most concerning versions identified by scientists are the so-called British, South African and Brazilian variants, which appear to spread more quickly than others.
7Zahawi said it was likely that the vaccines available now will be effective against the new virus variants.
8"It's very unlikely that the current vaccine won't be effective on the variants...especially when it comes to severe illness and hospitalization," Zahawi told Britain's Sky News.
9He said major vaccine manufacturers are working on ways "to make sure that we are ready for any variant," adding that "there are about 4,000 variants around the world of COVID now."
10"We are keeping a library of all the variants so that we are ready to respond...to any challenge that the virus may present and produce the next vaccine," Zahawi said.
11The coronavirus has killed 2.2 million people worldwide since it was found in China in late 2019, Johns Hopkins University of Medicine reports.
12Israel leads the world in effectively vaccinating its citizens.
13It is followed by the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, the United States and then Spain, Italy and Germany.
14Britain has begun a trial to consider the immune response that comes from using the vaccines from both Pfizer and AstraZeneca in two injections.
15Results of the trial are expected in June.
16The trial will combine an mRNA injection -- such as the one developed by Pfizer and BioNtech --
17and an adenovirus viral vector vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.
18Viral vector vaccines carry genes that prepare the body to fight against COVID-19.
19Russia's Sputnik V is also a viral vector vaccine.
20In a separate trial, it is being tested in combination with AstraZeneca's vaccine.
21The British researchers said there are two main advantages to vaccinating people with two different vaccine versions:
22it may increase immune responses and it would give governments more ways to get the vaccines out to their populations.
23Matthew Snape is an Oxford vaccine expert who is leading the trial.
24He told reporters that using different vaccine injections had proven to be effective in fighting Ebola.
25He added that scientists believe the new combinations will create a "good immune response."
26I'm Susan Shand.
1The head of Britain's vaccination deployment effort says the world faces around 4,000 variants of the virus that causes COVID-19. 2As a result of new mutated versions, vaccine manufacturers are looking for ways to improve the shots to resist the virus variants, Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said Thursday. 3British researchers plan to test a mix of two vaccines - the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca injections - to see if the two together can create stronger immunity. 4Experts say thousands of individual changes arise as the virus mutates and develops into new variants over time. However, only a small number of mutations are likely to change the virus in an important way, the British Medical Journal reports. 5So far, the most concerning versions identified by scientists are the so-called British, South African and Brazilian variants, which appear to spread more quickly than others. 6Zahawi said it was likely that the vaccines available now will be effective against the new virus variants. 7"It's very unlikely that the current vaccine won't be effective on the variants...especially when it comes to severe illness and hospitalization," Zahawi told Britain's Sky News. 8He said major vaccine manufacturers are working on ways "to make sure that we are ready for any variant," adding that "there are about 4,000 variants around the world of COVID now." 9"We are keeping a library of all the variants so that we are ready to respond...to any challenge that the virus may present and produce the next vaccine," Zahawi said. 10The coronavirus has killed 2.2 million people worldwide since it was found in China in late 2019, Johns Hopkins University of Medicine reports. 11Israel leads the world in effectively vaccinating its citizens. It is followed by the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, the United States and then Spain, Italy and Germany. 12Britain has begun a trial to consider the immune response that comes from using the vaccines from both Pfizer and AstraZeneca in two injections. Results of the trial are expected in June. 13The trial will combine an mRNA injection -- such as the one developed by Pfizer and BioNtech -- and an adenovirus viral vector vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. Viral vector vaccines carry genes that prepare the body to fight against COVID-19. 14Russia's Sputnik V is also a viral vector vaccine. In a separate trial, it is being tested in combination with AstraZeneca's vaccine. 15The British researchers said there are two main advantages to vaccinating people with two different vaccine versions: it may increase immune responses and it would give governments more ways to get the vaccines out to their populations. 16Matthew Snape is an Oxford vaccine expert who is leading the trial. He told reporters that using different vaccine injections had proven to be effective in fighting Ebola. He added that scientists believe the new combinations will create a "good immune response." 17I'm Susan Shand. 18The Reuters News Agency reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor. 19________________________________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21variant - n. different in some way from others of the same kind 22mutate - v. to cause (a gene) to change and create an unusual characteristic in a plant or animal 23immunity - n. to be protected against catching a disease 24library - n. a place where books are available to the public 25respond - v. to answer or to reply 26challenge - n. to test the ability, skill, or strength of (someone or something) 27advantage - n. something (such as a good position or condition) that helps to make someone or something better or more likely to succeed than other 28We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, and visit our Facebook page.