UK Vaccine Deputy Minister: "There Are 4,000 COVID Variants Worldwide"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Jo] A report has been released stating that there are about 4,000 variants of the COVID-19 virus worldwide.

Nadhim Zahawi, the UK government's Minister for COVID Vaccine Deployment, said in an interview with local media on the 3rd (local time), "Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and other vaccine manufacturers are researching to ensure their vaccines are effective against all COVID-19 variants," adding, "Currently, there are approximately 4,000 variants of the virus worldwide."

He continued, "Existing vaccines are expected to be effective not only against the UK-origin variant but also other variants," and added, "This is especially true for severe cases."

Earlier, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) published content stating that although thousands of COVID-19 variants have emerged, only a few significantly alter the virus in noteworthy ways.

Minister Zahawi emphasized, "Fifty percent of the global genome sequencing industry is based in the UK, which is the largest scale in the world," and added, "By as early as this fall, we are accumulating all variant information to develop the next vaccine capable of responding to any viral challenge."

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