New Coronavirus Variant C.1.2 May Be More Infectious, Evade Vaccine Protection: Study

New Delhi: A new variant of coronavirus, which has been detected in South Africa and some other countries, could be more transmissible and evade protection provided by vaccines.

According to a study by scientists of National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) in South Africa, the potential variant of interest (VOI) C.1.2 has mutated substantially compared to C.1, a lineage which dominated COVID-19 infections during the first wave of the pandemic in South Africa..

C.1.2, which was first detected in South Africa in May 2021, has subsequently been found in China, Congo, Mauritius, England, New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland, says the study which is yet to be peer reviewed.

According to the researchers, C.1.2 has more mutations than other variants of concern (VOCs) or VOIs detected so far.

They found the number of C.1.2 genomes in South Africa has been increasing consistently every month — from 0.2% of genomes sequenced in May to 1.6% in June and then to 2% in July.

“This is similar to the increases seen with the Beta and Delta variants in the country during early detection,” the authors noted.

They stated that the C.1.2 lineage mutates at a rate of about 41.8 per year, which is almost twice as fast as the present global mutation rate of other variants.

The N440K and Y449H mutations, which have been associated with immune escape from certain antibodies, have been noticed in C.1.2 sequences.

“While these mutations are not characteristic of current VOCs/VOIs, they have been associated with escape from certain class 3 neutralising antibodies,” the researchers said.

These mutations, with changes in other parts of the virus, help the virus evade antibodies and immune response, including in patients who have already developed antibodies for Alpha or Beta variants.