The variant of the coronavirus first detected in South Africa is unlikely to completely negate the immunizing effects of vaccines, a researcher studying it told Reuters.
British scientists expressed concern on Monday that COVID-19 vaccines may not be able to protect against the variant identified by South Africa n genomics scientists and which has spread internationally.
Richard Lessells, an infectious disease expert at the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, which played a central role in identifying the variant known as 501Y.V2, said his understanding was that the comments were not based on any new data but on shared information.