South African researchers keep wary eye on yet a new coronavirus variant

The variant they are watching, called C.1.2, has popped up across South Africa as well as in seven other countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the researchers report. They’re not sure whether its constellation of mutations will make it more dangerous, but it carries changes that have given other variants increased transmissibility and the ability to evade the immune system’s response to some degree.Having more mutations does not necessarily equal more danger — some mutations can weaken a virus and it’s the combination of changes that affects whether a virus becomes more efficient. One extra mutation could cancel out the effects of another.But the team — which includes virologist Penny Moore of South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases — say they are keeping an eye on it.”We are currently assessing the impact of this variant on antibody neutralization following SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in South Africa,” they wrote in a “This variant has been detected throughout the third wave of infections in South Africa from May 2021 onwards and has been detected in seven other countries within Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. The identification of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants is commonly associated with new waves of infection.”It’s too soon for the variant to be designated a variant of interest or a Maria van Kerkhove, technical lead on Covid-19 for WHO, noted that very few people diagnosed with coronavirus have been found to be infected with the C.1.2 variant.”To date there are around 100 sequences of C.1.2 reported globally, the earliest reports from May ’21 from South Africa,” she said on Twitter.”At this time, C.1.2 does not appear to be rising in circulation,” she added. She said WHO would update people on its website and via news conference if that changes.”Monitoring & assessment of variants is ongoing & critically important to understand the evolution of this virus, in fighting COVID-19 & adapting strategies as needed,” she added. So far, the Delta variant is still dominant, Van Kerkhove said.Some variants, such as Alpha and Delta, have quickly spread to become the dominant variants in much of the world. Others have spread more regionally, including Beta and Gamma. Others have looked troubling but caused only sporadic outbreaks.CNN’s Michael Nedelman contributed to this story