Vaccines will work against new G-strain, finds study

In a major breakthrough for 321 Covid-19 vaccines being developed worldwide, a new study has found that they will work against the new G-strain mutation of the coronavirus, reports Chethan Kumar.

The new study by a team led by Indian-origin scientist Prof SS Vasan has been published in ‘npj-Vaccine’, brought out by Nature.

The virus which emerged from Wuhan was the D-strain. Most vaccines under development have been modelled on the original strain, which was common among sequences published early in the pandemic.

The virus, meanwhile, evolved to ‘G-strain’, the result of a mutation known as D614G. American scientist Dr Bette Korber flagged this to be of urgent concern on April 30, and since then, this strain has steadily replaced the D strain all over the world. It now accounts for about 85% of published SARS-CoV-2 genomes.