COVID-19 And Its Mutant Variants – What Are They? And Why Should We Be Worried?

The COVID-19 virus has been challenging mankind ever since its declaration as a pandemic. 

COVID-19 is the first pandemic of such magnitude any of us experienced. The alarming rate at which it spread from Wuhan, China, to every corner of the world, carrying death and other consequences with it, truly shook the world to its core. 

Healthcare systems and strict quarantine regulations all over the world couldn’t control COVID-19 as well as we’d hope they would. Health experts came up with findings every day about controlling its spread and managing the pandemic better. However, there is still much to be studied and learned. 

The COVID-19 infection has no known cure. No one drug could destroy the coronavirus. Current management is aimed at preventing the spread and providing life support till the body heals itself.

The Latest COVID-19 Challenge

The latest COVID-19 challenge thrown at us is the multiple COVID-19 variants forming in different parts of the world. 

Some of these variants are deadlier and spread much faster than the original Wuhan variant.   

What are these variants? Why are they mutating? Do vaccines work against them? 

Why Is The COVID-19 Virus Mutating In The First Place? 

All organisms in the world reproduce to increase the number of their species. Viruses replicate as well, and they do it at a much faster rate. When they repeat fast, mutations occur more frequently than they do in human beings. 

Some of these mutations make the viruses stronger, more resistant, more transmissible, and make them deadlier. These mutated viruses are more likely to thrive and dominate.

Some of these deadlier variants have been identified in different parts of the world, discussed below.

Different Variants of the COVID19 Virus  

There could be many hidden and undiscovered variants of the COVID19 virus. But so far, only a few of them have been discovered. These variants have been classified based on their presence in different geographical locations of the world. 

Described below are some of the most popular variants of the COVID19 virus (the SARS-COV-2) that have been found so far:

Alpha Variant (B.1.1.7) – The U.K. Variant:

The variant B.1.1.7 was first found in southeastern England. It reportedly spread to involve the rest of the states of the United Kingdom, thus becoming one of the most common strains prevalent within the country.  

After the U.K, the B.1.1.7 strain soon spread to involve the other countries, too, with the United States becoming the second country to report the presence of this variant around December 2020. Soon after, reports from Australia, Denmark, Netherlands, etc., were also received regarding the detection of this variant. 

The B.1.1.7 variant was found to have approximately 17 mutations in its structure, which ultimately added to its faster, almost 50% more transmission rates. 

The people infected with this variant were found to experience chills, headaches, appetite loss, muscular weakness, and the other specific COVID19 symptoms. 

Beta Variant (B.1.351) – The South African Variant: 

Discovered in later 2020, the Beta variant was found to arise from a mutation in the Alpha variant. It was first found in South Africa, later spreading to other countries in the world, accounting for more than 1000 cases in Canada alone.

This variant was found during the second wave of the COVID19 virus and was associated with higher hospitalizations and reinfection rates. Approximately 2% of people who had already been infected with COVID19 were found to get reinfected through this variant. 

The B.1.351 variant was also that variant that was found to not respond as effectively to the Astrazeneca vaccine. 

Gamma Variant (P.1) – The Brazilian Variant:

The Gamma variant was discovered around November 2020 in Brazil and later on in Canada. This variant was also found to have higher transmissibility rates than the other variants of the COVID19 virus.  This variant is approximately 2.5 times more transmissible than the earlier variants. 

The Gamma variant has shown almost the same mutations as the Alpha and Beta variants, thus explaining its higher infectivity rates among people. 

Delta Variant (B.1.617.2) – The Indian Variant: 

The Delta Variant or the Indian variant is one of the most contagious variants of the COVID 19 Virus. This lethal variant was responsible for causing 40% of the doubling up of cases in India alone. 

According to the WHO, this variant alone has increased the hospitalization and infectivity rate throughout India. It was discovered in October 2020, and ever since then, it has been displaying higher transmissibility rates among the affected masses.

Vaccines were also found to be less effective against the Delta variant. Thus, experts predicted that if a fourth wave of the COVID-19 virus was reported, it would be due to the Delta variant.  

Are The COVID19 Vaccines Effective Against These Variants? 

The primary purpose behind the development of the COVID19 vaccines was to ultimately slow down the transmission of the viruses. 

So far, these vaccines are showing favorable statistics in doing what they were made to do. Still, with the rapidly-changing and appearing variants, the data seems to be somewhat limited and subject to change from population to population and location to location around the world. 

But even then, Moderna, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson have released what limited data they collected showing they were highly successful in controlling the hospitalization and disease presentation in people suffering from the Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants.

With this picture in front of us, it appears that very soon, the world would be able to control this deadly disease and its spread owing to the mass vaccination programs taking place throughout the world. It only remains a matter of time and compliance now, and COVID19 would be gone before we know it! 

References: 

1. Kaur, N., Singh, R., Dar, Z., Bijarnia, R. K., Dhingra, N., & Kaur, T. (2021). Genetic comparison among various coronavirus strains for the identification of potential vaccine targets of SARS-CoV2. Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics in infectious diseases, 89, 104490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104490
2. Hossain, M. K., Hassan Zadegan Roudsari, M., & Apostolopoulos, V. (2021). The emergence of new strains of SARS-CoV-2. What does it mean for COVID-19 vaccines?. Expert review of vaccines, 1–4. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/14760584.2021.1915140
3. Padron-Regalado E. (2020). Vaccines for SARS-CoV-2: Lessons from Other Coronavirus Strains. Infectious diseases and therapy, 9(2), 1–20. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40121-020-00300-x

Written by : Dr. Fatima Saqib

Edited by : Dr. Akeel Salahudeen