Vietnam has detected a COVID variant that appears to be a combination of the Indian and UK variants and can spread quickly by air.
Vietnam's Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long (Thwin tai long) described the latest mutation yesterday as "very dangerous".
BBC reports that according to Reuters news agency, the Minister told the government in a meeting that Vietnam has uncovered a new COVID-19 variant combining the characteristics of the two existing variants first found in India and the UK.
He says the new hybrid variant was more transmissible than previously known versions, especially in the air.
He said this was discovered after running tests on newly-detected patients.
The genetic code of the virus will be made available soon.
Research suggests that vaccines, such as the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs, are highly effective against the Indian variant after two doses, but protection from one dose appears to be reduced.
As with the original version of the virus, the risk remains highest for people who are elderly or have significant underlying health conditions.
Vietnam has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks with the country registering more than 6,700 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic.
According to Johns Hopkins University data, Vietnam has recorded 47 COVID-related deaths.
[Source: BBC]
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