COVID-19 C.1.2 Variant: Will Vaccines Provide Protection Against New Strain Suspected To Be More Contagious?

The C.1.2 variant of COVID-19 was first identified in May this year. It is being said that a number of nations worldwide have identified cases of this variant.

Covid-19 C.1.2 Variant: A new variant of COVID-19 has been found in South Africa and many other countries, which may be more contagious than other variants. It is also suspected if vaccination will be able to provide enough protection against this variant.

Scientists from the South Africa-based National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the KwaZulu Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform said that the new variant of COVID-19, C.1.2 was first detected in the country in May this year. They revealed that until August 13, this variant of COVID-19 has been found in countries like China, Congo, Mauritius, the UK, New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland.

Scientists have said that one of the variants of COVID-19, C.1 that emerged during the first wave in South Africa has mutated into C.1.2 and has been classified as a 'variant of interest' .

Scientists said that C.1.2 showed more mutations than the other variants of interest or concern. There are 14 mutations in more than half of the C.1.2 sequences, but additional variations have also been observed in some sequences.

Is It More Contagious Than Other Variants?

Scientists said that C.1.2 may be more infectious and it may circumvent the protection provided by the COVID-19 vaccine. One study found that cases related to the genome C.1.2 have been on the rise every month in South Africa. It increased from 0.2 percent in May to 1.6 percent in June and to 2 percent in July. 

Virologist Upasana Rai said that this variant is the result of various mutations of C.1.2 which due to the increase in the protein becomes very different from the original SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Will Existing COVID Vaccines Provide Enough Protection?

The original virus was identified in Wuhan, China back in 2019. Upasana Rai of CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biological Sciences, Kolkata said, "Its transmission rate may be high and it is likely to spread rapidly. There are many mutations in the increased protein, which would make it difficult for vaccines and our own immunity to control".