New Vietnam Covid Variant Discovered

by mcardinal

Justin Bullock, FISM News

 

Another new variant of the COVID-19 virus has been discovered in Vietnam. It is characteristic of viruses to mutate especially as they are treated and combatted by medical treatment and vaccines. COVID-19 is no different and the World Health Organization (WHO) has already discovered four variants of the virus in Britain, South Africa, India, and Brazil. While a full investigation into the Vietnam variant is ongoing, doctors believe the variant is a combined mutation of the British and Indian variants previously discovered.

The discovery of the Vietnam variant coincides with a recent rise in COVID-19 cases across Vietnam. Doctors say that this specific variant of the virus is able to quickly replicate itself as well as spread quickly through the air. As a result Vietnam Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long has described the variant as “very dangerous” and told Reuters that, “Vietnam has uncovered a new COVID-19 variant combining characteristics of the two existing variants first found in India and the UK.”

The COVID-19 vaccine has been found to prevent all current variants and doctors hope that this will remain the case for future variants as well. However, research into COVID-19 and in particular the variant found in Vietnam is still ongoing. WHO Technical Lead for COVID-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, told the press, “At the present time, we have not yet made an assessment of the virus variant reported in Vietnam. Our country office is working with the Ministry of Health in Vietnam and we expect more information soon.”

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