"Do We Have to Live with COVID-19 Forever?"... Citizens 'Worried' as New Variant Discovered Following Delta and Omicron

New Variant Discovered in France... Many Mutations Raise Concerns Over Vaccine Efficacy
WHO "Currently Low Risk... Under Investigation"
Health Authorities Emphasize Effectiveness of Vaccination and Quarantine Pass Measures

A citizen receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] As the spread of the 4th wave of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant is being brought under control, another variant virus has been discovered, prompting health authorities to remain vigilant. Citizens are also expressing concerns over the prolonged quarantine measures.

Researchers at the IHU Mediterranean Infection Research Center in Marseille, France, introduced a COVID-19 variant virus containing 46 mutations and 37 gene deletions in a paper published on the 29th of last month (local time) in 'MedRxiv.' Named 'B.1.640.2,' this variant is known to have spread to 12 people in Marseille, southern France, so far. The first confirmed case infected with this variant was confirmed to have traveled to Cameroon, Africa.

Fortunately, no confirmed cases of the new variant have been identified domestically. On the 4th, Hwang Kyung-won, head of the Vaccination Planning Team at the COVID-19 Response Task Force, stated in a background briefing, "There are currently no analysis results related to the transmissibility, severity, or immune evasion of the new variant, and further analysis of the virus's clinical characteristics is required," adding, "We will closely monitor the overseas occurrence status of B.1.640 and B.1.640.2 and whether they enter the country." According to health authorities, this variant virus is classified as a sublineage of B.1.640, which was identified in the Republic of Congo in September last year.

Some express concerns that the B.1.640 variant virus could, like the earlier Omicron case, neutralize existing COVID-19 vaccines and exhibit high transmissibility. The IHU research team that discovered it also expressed concern in their paper, stating, "Spike protein modifications may neutralize existing vaccines."

Previously, studies showed that Omicron has stronger immune evasion than the Delta variant, making it more likely to neutralize vaccines. According to Fox News and others on the 3rd, a survey conducted last month by the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and the National Serological Research Institute (SSI) under the Ministry of Health, involving about 12,000 households, found that the Omicron variant has stronger immune evasion than the Delta variant.

However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has judged that the new variant virus is unlikely to pose a significant threat. According to AP News and others on the 4th, Abdi Mahamud, a WHO COVID-19 situation management support team official, said at a briefing held in Geneva, Switzerland, "The new variant virus reported in France had many opportunities to spread, but it did not," and judged the risk to be low at present. WHO is currently investigating the new variant and plans to designate it as a variant of concern if a significant level of risk is detected.

Citizens are showing anxious reactions to the emergence of the new variant virus. Son Ji-young, a woman in her 20s working in an office, said, "I was hopeful because confirmed cases were decreasing with the 3rd vaccination. But now that another new variant virus has appeared, I feel scared and somewhat resigned, wondering if we have to live with COVID-19 like this forever."

Another office worker in his 40s, Mr. Kim, said, "Depending on the situation, it seems we will have to continue getting vaccinated, but it also feels very risky," adding, "I hope vaccine development and quarantine measures can be implemented with agility."

On the 5th, when 4,444 new COVID-19 cases were reported, citizens waiting to get tested at a temporary screening clinic set up at Sogang University Station in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Meanwhile, the 4th wave of the domestic outbreak, which has continued since early July, has generally entered a declining phase. As of 6 p.m. on the 5th, the number of new confirmed cases domestically reached 2,877, which is 25 more than the same time the previous day (2,852). Compared to the same time a week ago on the 29th of last month (3,249), it is 372 fewer, and compared to two weeks ago on the 22nd of last month (4,191), it is 1,314 fewer.

Health authorities continue to emphasize the effectiveness of social distancing and vaccination. Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said at a briefing on the 5th, "The vaccine's effectiveness in preventing infection is about 60-65%, so when 100 unvaccinated people get infected, only about 40 fully vaccinated people get infected. From the perspective of authorities and experts, this is a significant difference and has the effect of reducing the infection reproduction number to less than half."

Son added, "Combining vaccines with quarantine passes and social distancing can reduce the infection reproduction number to below 1," and encouraged vaccination, saying, "Since the fatality rate of unvaccinated people is five times higher than that of fully vaccinated people, vaccination is a very effective means to preserve intensive care capacity and reduce deaths."

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