‘Most mutative’ COVID variant now located
A US expert has told Karl Stefanovic on the Today show about a new COVID variant which is the ‘most mutative’ virus so far and he said “unless you are triple-vaxxed” you’re not protected.”
US expert Dr Eric Feigl-Ding, warned two doses of vaccine may not be enough protection against the C.1.2 COVID strain, adding this virus is mutating “so much faster than we expected,” that three doses of vaccine will be required to protect against it.
The strain was first identified by scientists in South Africa in May and has since been found in England, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mauritius, Portugal Switzerland and even New Zealand.
The C.1.2-strain has almost double the mutation rate
Scientists have reported the C.1.2 strain in South Africa has a mutation rate of 41.8 mutations per year, almost double the current global mutation rate seen in any other variant of concern so far.
The C.1.2-strain has yet to make its way to Australia, but this new strain has experts on edge, including Dr Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and Senior Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington DC.
“It's got lots of troubling mutations and it's the most mutative of all variants,” he told the Today show this week.
“It's the most genetically distanced from the Wuhan 1.0 virus. Whether or not it's the next big thing, it's not necessarily that, it's the fact that the virus is mutating so much faster than we expected.”
An elimination strategy is required
Dr Feigl-Ding, who is a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Shapers program, a Soros Fellowship recipient and a former Democratic Party candidate, said he advocated a COVID elimination strategy.
“We can't just keep boosting the vaccines,” he said.
“We have to basically stop the transmission worldwide because the more bodies we give the virus, the more practice chances the virus will eventually adapt and become even more evasive or contagious.”
He also warned two doses of the vaccine may not be enough with Israel already introducing third booster shots.
“Unless you're triple vaxxed, you're not considered fully vaxxed. And that approach as much as it sucks, is the reality that we’re faced with – with these new variants,” Dr Feigl-Ding said.
Image: Today Show