Spent today on @bbcnwt looking at the different variants and mutations of #COVID19 currently circulating around the north west. This may not interest you but here goes ....

Viruses mutate all the time - most don’t matter but two in particular do: N501Y makes it more infectious and E484K can potentially get round the antibody response to the original COVID virus...

...so E484K mutation potentially means the vaccine might be slightly less effective (although still effective enough to prevent serious illness and so definitely still worth getting)

Variants are versions of the virus which have many different mutations from the original. The Kent, or UK variant includes the N501Y mutation, which makes it more infectious...

...which is why it spread through the whole country so quickly last year and is now the dominant strain in many places.

The one causing concern in Merseyside is the original coronavirus but has developed an E484K mutation - meaning it might be a bit more resistant to the current vaccines. It’s thought there are around 80 cases there

The case in Southport and in 7 other areas of the country is the South Africa variant, which has both the N501Y and the E484K mutations - meaning it’s both more infectious and potentially more difficult to vaccinate against, which is why it’s more worrying.

Viruses replicate and mutate to survive. The more virus there is around, the greater chance of another problematic mutation which is why the ultimate way to fight this is to get the case numbers down.