[ 2021-03-19 ]

Ghana records 2 new Covid-19 variants; experts call for immediate action
A cancer research company, Yemaachi Biotech has
identified two new variants of the Covid-19 virus
which they say is of much concern.

In a Twitter post, they revealed that the two
variants, B.1 and B.1.525 have been in circulation
in Ghana since March 2020.

The B.1 variant, first identified in Morocco and
Algeria has been linked to increased
transmissibility.


According to Dr Yaw Bediako, an immunologist and
Research Fellow at the West Africa Centre for Cell
Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) at the
University of Ghana, the B.1 variant has not shown
any signs of being able to breach the
vaccine-induced immunity.

“Currently there is no evidence that this
variant is capable of evading vaccine induced
immunity. We must keep vaccinating at a high rate
to minimize the likelihood that such a variant
will emerge,” he said.

However, concerning the B.1.525 variant which was
first identified in Nigeria, data gathered at the
research center shows it is more prevalent in the
Northern and Western regions of Ghana.


It added that the variant has mutations that may
allow the virus to partly evade the immune
system.




Explaining further, Public Health Expert and
Adjunct Professor at the New York University, Nana
Kofi Quakyi said, “the implication here is that
if you previously had Covid-19, the variant may be
able to get around the antibodies your body
produced in response to the infection. So you can
get reinfected. We don’t yet have data on how
this particular variant responds to the different
vaccines.”

Nana Kofi Quakyi stated that the identification of
these new variants was “a reminder of the
critical importance of broad, regular genomic
surveillance for SARSCoV2 variants in Covid-19
patients.”


He thus called on government to invest more money
towards that effort to “expand its scope and
frequency because the information it provides is
so important for the vaccine drive.”

He added, “We really need to double down on
infection control, especially enforcement of
limits on social gatherings!” and called for a
media briefing on the new variants soon.


“Those briefings are a core part of risk
communication, and they should be
scheduled/frequent. Detection of new variants
should be an obvious prompt to hold one,” he
said in a Twitter post.

Source - Joyfm

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