It is now more than a year since the first case of Covid-19 was detected in China’s city of Wuhan. Caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, Covid-19 later became a pandemic, disrupting the world’s social, economic, and political wellbeing. Few months ago, news emerged that there were new variants of Covid-19 that were detected in South Africa, Brazil, and Britain among other countries, arguably making the fight against Covid-19 more demanding. Below are ten of the things you need to know about the Covid-19 variants and mutation, as broken down to us by a seasoned physicians. 1.. What is the difference between variants and mutations? According to Dr Menelas Nkeshimana, a member of Rwanda’s Joint Taskforce for Covid-19 (JTFC), variant is a term often used to describe RNA (ribonucleic acid) viruses, for instance, Covid-19, that have undergone genetic changes due to host and environmental factors among others. “That literally means that a variant is different from the original copy of that same virus,” he said. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), mutation refers to the actual change in the genetic sequence of a given virus. 2.. Are mutations among viruses something new? According to Nkeshimana, viral mutations are very common among RNA viruses. He asserts that “hyper-mutability” is one of their well-documented characteristics. “The way these viruses survive is by infecting as many people as possible and replicating faster. In order to do so, their genetic make-up has to adapt to several factors like host characteristics (racial differences, age groups, and others) and environmental facts,” he explained. 3.How do new variants differ from the first form of SARS-CoV-2? According to WHO, the new variants detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa spread more easily than the previous form of the virus. Besides being more infectious, according to a recent study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), symptoms like cough, fatigue, sore throat, and muscle pain may be more common in people who test positive for the new UK variant of coronavirus. 4. How do new variants affect the fight against Covid-19? Nkeshimana says that countries that have confirmed the new variants are experiencing several logistical challenges associated with spikes in Covid-19 cases and deaths. Besides that, he added, there are more profound socioeconomic disruptions; the population is scared and the public order is gravely challenged. 5. What lessons should countries that have not yet confirmed these variants learn? “In order to prevent such a situation, the best approach for countries not-yet-affected today is to ensure that they don’t even start this vicious cycle, and do so by keeping the newly infected Covid-19 cases to the lowest level possible,” Nkeshimana noted. He also said that these countries should show the population what is happening on the other side of the world, and how much of a nightmare it would be if they are also affected, underscoring that; “As of today, prevention remains the best remedy to this public health threat.” 6. What do we know about new variants from previous pandemics? Nkeshimana explains that the Influenza virus is a typical example in this regard. “Although there is a vaccine for Influenza, because of its hyper-mutability, the vaccine against it has to be adjusted almost every year in order to preserve its efficiency in protecting the population at risk.” He explains that a new variant can behave in a way that is less dangerous while it gets the ability to infect many people, spread faster and further, with no respect to differences in age groups, gender, races, and geographical locations. He added that a variant can also behave as a virulent mutant causing severe disease, therefore noting that “It is hard to predict the ‘how’ scenario. We only get to know how it behaves once it has reached us and we get those hints from the clinical observation of the people affected and comparing the new data with the original data.” 7. Has Rwanda confirmed new Covid-19 variants already? End January this year, the Minister for Health, Dr Daniel Ngamije explained that medics in the country have not yet carried out specific screening for the variants. “We are working on putting in place this capability, and soon, we will be having it available so that it can be used especially on the people coming to Rwanda from outside countries,” he said. Health experts advise that technology should always remain at the very center of every country’s fight against the new variants, so that they can be confident that they will not be caught off guard. 8. Does the new Covid-19 variant require additional preventive measures? According to WHO’s chief scientist, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, there are no additional measures required in the prevention of new variants. She, however, said that there is a need for double efforts in adhering to Covid-19 preventive measures in place. “The same public health and social measures will work against these variants, as have worked in the past,” she said, adding that: “We are at a very critical stage in many parts of the world, where we really need to be focusing on bringing down the transmission and that, in turn, will help in reducing how much this virus can actually change.” 9. Do the existing vaccines have efficacy against the new variant? In the beginning of January, Dr Swaminathan explained that the vaccines that were in development and a couple that had been approved should provide protection against variants. By then she said that “studies are going on in labs around the world to actually confirm that (the vaccines are effective against the new variants).” “In the small possibility that perhaps these are less effective against one or both of these variants, nowadays the way vaccines are developed, it will be possible actually to also change the composition of the antigens and the vaccines quite quickly,” She added. Last month, a research suggested that Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine can protect against a mutation found in two highly contagious variants of the coronavirus that erupted in Britain and South Africa. They both share a common mutation called N501Y. Normally, there are some vaccines, like those for measles, which are always effective and don’t require a change at all. However, some vaccines like those against the influenza virus require change of structure of the vaccine every year, based on the circulating strains. 10. What should African countries do to better respond to the new variants? According to WHO, investment towards prescribed Covid-19 preventive measures is key in winning the fight against the new variants. “To strengthen their responses to currently circulating SARS-COV-2 variants, African countries need resources and context-specific approaches to implement currently recommended mitigation strategies for infection prevention and control, and patient clinical management,” the health body said.
