COVID-19 Variant in South Africa Drives Second Wave... "Uncertain Vaccine Effectiveness, Especially Impacting Young People"

People waiting for COVID-19 tests at Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth on the 13th of last month
[Image source = Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] A new variant of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has emerged in South Africa. The South African Minister of Health warned that this variant virus is "leading the second wave and particularly affecting the younger population."

According to foreign media such as Business Insider, on the 18th (local time), Zweli Mkhize, South Africa's Minister of Health, announced that "South African genetic scientists have discovered a variant of the coronavirus (SARS-COV-2 virus) named '501.V2 variant.'"

According to this, the genomics team at the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) has been sequencing hundreds of samples from across South Africa since the pandemic began in March. They found that a specific variant has increasingly become dominant in samples collected over the past two months.

The researchers combined clinical evidence showing that younger COVID-19 patients are appearing much more frequently than during the first wave and concluded that the current second wave is driven by this new variant.

However, it is still unknown whether existing COVID-19 vaccines are effective against this new variant virus.

The KRISP team led by Professor Tulio de Oliveira confirmed that they shared this discovery with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the scientific community. British researchers also identified that the coronavirus resurging in the capital London is similar, reported it to Parliament, and imposed lockdown orders to prevent the spread of the variant.

Minister Mkhize warned, "Despite warnings that young people have accounted for most positive cases in recent weeks, scenes of young people holding group parties and even playing kissing games are circulating on social media," adding, "Unlike before, many healthy young people are showing severe symptoms due to this variant virus. You need to understand that not only is it about consideration for others, but you yourself could be at risk of dying from COVID-19."

As of this day, South Africa's cumulative confirmed COVID-19 cases have increased by about 8,700 in one day, surpassing 900,000. Deaths have reached approximately 24,000.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.