(1/6) This is quite a concerning development. An additional mutation (E484K; a key mutation in the South African variant) has now also been detected in a limited number of people infected with the UK variant.

Laboratory experiments suggest vaccine efficacy may be reduced. https://twitter.com/kakape/status/1356506916873207809

(2/6) Here’s a nice figure from @K_G_Andersen, showing the different mutations in the UK, South African, & Brazilian variants.

E484K has now also appeared in multiple people in the UK, suggesting a process of convergent evolution. This means it’s likely to happen elsewhere, too.

(3/6) So far, this enhanced UK variant has been detected in 11 of 214,159 samples tested.

The E484K mutation previously appeared in a cluster of 32 cases of the original strain in Liverpool. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55900625

(4/6) There’s a real danger this will threaten vaccine efficacy if allowed to spread.

We’ve seen efficacy of the Novavax vaccine drop from 95% against the original strain, to 60% against the South African variant (49% if people with HIV are included). https://twitter.com/drzoehyde/status/1355020446505156614?s=21

(5/6) This means at least two things:

First, it’s imperative that governments adopt a #ZeroCOVID strategy. We cannot risk continued evolution of the virus on such a widespread scale.

Second, the preferential use of high-efficacy vaccines is becoming increasingly important.

(6/6) The most recent report on the UK variant (which mentions the emergence of E484K), can be found on this page in briefing number 5: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/investigation-of-novel-sars-cov-2-variant-variant-of-concern-20201201