A new subvariant is on its way but it should pose a problem for South Africa Photo Pexels
South Africa – As things are starting to clear, the World Health Organisation have discovered a new subvariant of Covid-19. Centaurus, as it is being called, has been identified in ten different European countries.
A subvariant means the virus is descending from one specific lineage. Centaurus comes from the lineage of the Omicron variant that we had. This subvariant has attracted attention because it seems to have developed a resistance to the vaccine, explained Dr. Shameem Jaumdally, Senior Research Scientist at the UCT Lung Institute.
“It has appeared to have mutated in a way that could indicate some major immune escape. This means it can go unrecognised by vaccine or by the immune system that may have encountered it before.”
Currently this subvariant first appeared in India.
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The danger Centaurus poses to the population
Nowadays when people get infected with the flu, they come down with more severe symptoms than before. Our immune system works in such a way that it is easier to tackle a virus when it knows it. Due to Covid-19, our bodies have not interacted with the flu so much and the flu has mutated. This deadlier flu can wreak havoc on our immune systems.
Although Centaurus is looking like it has the ability to escape the immune system, Jaumdally believes it will not pose a threat to those who have taken the vaccine.
“We have reached that level of endemicity where we have so many people who are either being vaccinated or who’ve been infected before. I am confident that even Centaurus, which looks like it’s changed to an extent where the body does not recognize it as well, we still have a far better protection now than we had when we were hit by the Delta wave.”
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Time to live with the virus
We have been taking precautions by wearing masks and using hand sanitizers. It is only recently that the mask mandate has been lifted and life has gone back to normal. For Jaumdally this cycle of new waves and new mutation will occur and it is now about living with the virus.
“It’s a signal that we are experiencing a shift in a new phase of genuinely living with the virus because more people are actually getting protection against it, especially through the infection that happens. I will advise people to keep using sanitizers because generally it’s good. It doesn’t protect us only against Covid but other microbes as well.”
What sort of impact will it have on South Africa
With a new wave and variant comes a new sense of fear that a lockdown might occur again. It is only natural that South Africans fear, but Jaumdally believes that it will not happen again. South Africa is much better than the last time.
“The last time that we did have some form of significant impact on our hospital and in our death, rate was in the months of November and December last year. That was when we had the emergence of Omicron. Since we had another wave that literally did not do much to change the way the health system operates. We also know that we now have a high level of endemicity. People all around generally have protection against this virus and the different forms of it.”
Still, Jaumdally has warned that people should get vaccinated. Especially those who have a compromised immune system. Although the subvariant will make the rounds and affect us, he does not believe it will have a major impact on our lives.
