SL on alert over new vaccine resistant COVID variant – Minister

 

State Minister Channa Jayasumana has warned of a new Covid-19 variant named A.30, which has been identified as highly efficient in evading antibodies induced by vaccines.

“The world especially the European countries are on high alert over the new variant and so is Sri Lanka,” he stressed.

“If the new variant spreads rapidly during the upcoming winter season, there could be a devastating situation around the world with regard to a new covid wave” he went on to say.

The A.30 variant has been reportedly identified by a group of German scientists.

However as per foreign reports, the variant has not been detected for months, with the last A.30 samples reported between May and June this year.

According to the COVID variant tracking network GISAID, only five cases of A.30 have been reported worldwide—three in Angola, one in Sweden, and one in the U.K.