Pakistani and Chinese researchers have claimed that the existing COVID-19 vaccines may prove ineffective against the highly infectious strains of the Coronavirus found in the UK, Brazil, and South Africa.
Researchers at the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) in Islamabad and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai recently conducted a joint study to ascertain the differences in transmissibility between the different mutated variants, the original strain of the Coronavirus, and the effects the mutated strains can bear on the vaccines approved thus far around the world.
ALSO READ
Russia to Help Modernize Pakistan Steel Mills
Both teams of researchers used multiple computational algorithms to analyze the biological mechanisms behind the higher infectivity and transmission of the strains of Coronavirus which originated from the UK, Brazil, and South Africa.
According to the study, the mutated strains of COVID-19 which emerged from South Africa and Brazil are more infectious and deadly than the ones found in the UK.
What makes the South African and Brazilian variants more infectious and deadly are the significant changes in the binding affinities of the viruses’ spike proteins which increase their ability to create new inter-protein contacts within the human cells manifold.
The study adds that the Coronavirus variants from the UK, Brazil, and South Africa can render existing COVID-19 vaccines less effective because they have undergone multiple mutations.
ALSO READ
Here’s How Sugar Mafia Operates in Pakistan
Dr. Amir Ali Abbasi, Chairperson National Centre for Bioinformatics (NBC) at QAU and study’s lead investigator, said the mutated and highly infectious strains of Coronavirus have created an alarming situation worldwide.
He added that Coronavirus variants found in the UK, South Africa, and Brazil pose a major threat to vaccination efforts underway around the world and could diminish the effectiveness of the existing COVID-19 vaccines.
