New Year! New COVID-19 Variant!

BY TVISHA MISTRY

COVID-19 has a new variant that mutated in United Kindom. The variant of the virus is known as B.1.1.7 and spreads increasing faster as a result of its genetic coding. The variant has spread to several countries including France, Sweden, India, Australia, Germany, the United States, and Canada.

Canada registered its first two cases of the B.1.1.7 variant in Ontario on  Saturday, December 26^th. The case confirmed included a couple from the Durham Region with no known travel history, exposure, or high-risk contact. Both individuals have been informed and are currently in self-isolation as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Health, Ontario.

After the outbreak of the variant, the health officials cautioned all residents to limit physical contact with others. “This further reinforces the need for Ontarians to stay home as much as possible and continue to follow all public health advice, including the provincewide shutdown measures,” said Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario’s associate chief medical officer of health.

According to the U.K researchers, the B.1.1.7 variant is up to 70% more transmissible because it has 22 coding changes to the virus genome. Although more contagious, U.K scientists state that there is no evidence that it is more lethal.

Nonetheless, British authorities state the new variant is the cause of the spike in hospitalization. As a result of increasing transmission rates, more people are likely to become ill and the number of COVID-19 cases are expected to rise.

While the variant is still in its preliminary stages, it’s “not something we should dismiss,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease expert based out of Toronto General Hospital. “Just because it doesn’t seem to be more deadly doesn’t mean it’s not a problem,” said Bogoch. “It’s still not entirely clear to what extent it’s more transmissible, but, even so, a more transmissible virus would be challenging. It would pose significant challenges to a population.”

Experts confirm that there has been no reason to believe that the vaccines being given now won’t be effective against the variant, and the current COVID-19 vaccination is predicted to be effective.

“[There is] no evidence to suggest, nor reason to believe, that it would evade our vaccines that we have right now,” comments Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral- Dr. Brett Giroir.

“This particular variant in the UK, I think, is very unlikely to have escaped the vaccine immunity,” said Moncef Slaoui, the head of Operation Warp Speed.

Additionally, at a press conference Saturday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced, “There’s no evidence to suggest the vaccine will be any less effective against the new variant. Our experts will continue their work to improve our understanding as fast as we can.”

The UK’s chief scientific advisor agreed.

“Our working assumption at the moment from all of the scientists is that the vaccine response should be adequate for this virus,” Dr. Patrick Vallance said at the press conference.

To prevent the further outbreak of the COVID-19 B.1.1.7 variant, Canada has posted a travel ban on the United Kindom; suspending all flights from the U.K until January 6^th, 2021.

Additionally, to protect Canadians from the COVID-19 outbreak, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced travel restrictions. Until further notice, most foreign nationals will have limited travel to Canada, regardless of their visa or electronic travel authorization.

As noble citizens of Canada, it is also our responsibility to ensure that we practice the health and safety protocols that have been set in place by the government. Our compliance with the guidelines will help stop the spread of COVID-19.

It is strongly urged that you along with all members of your family abide by the COVID-19 guidelines to help contain the pandemic within our communities, cities, provinces, helping reduce cases in our country.