Covid Kent Variant Will Sweep The World

[Stickybottle]

Just when we thought we were getting on top here is a very bold and worrying statement that sounds full of doom

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56019995

[LadyCG]

I'm sure they'll tweak the vaccine if they need to. From the figures I'm getting in my daily bulletins at work the rate is dropping drastically, which is all very encouraging.

[Smowball]

Christ it just keeps on getting better doesn’t it!!

[LadyCG]

Try not to believe everything you read. The worse it sounds, the more paper it sells.

[Smowball]

True LadyCG, just think everyone is feeling really red up now and just want some good news. Personally I’m feeling pretty low and miserable with it all x

[Hopkirk]

LCG, that wasn't a newspaper article. It was the BBC, who don't have a vested interest in click bait or sales.

[Stickybottle]

LadyCG
Try not to believe everything you read. The worse it sounds, the more paper it sells

In all honesty when a Professor in genomics gives an interview to the BBC it does tend to hold some gravitas

[riptide]

One person’s view, the reporters will grab at anything to get headlines. There are always going to be mutations like the flu, we will just have to be immunised with both in future. We are making progress let’s be more positive.

[ichkeria]

It isn't "doom" - it's basically saying what we already know.

[vulcan42]

This is the sort of thing that the modern BBC love. It has gone from being the most respected news reporter in the world to the biggest contributor to conjecture and innuendo. Their favourite words are might, possibly, could, suggested, etc. These words should not be part of any news bulletin, in my opinion the BBC is the biggest contributor to depression in this country.

[ToraToraTora]

the vaccine works for the Kent variant, does it not? The way out of this is vaccination, end of.

[woofgang]

from a linked article "There is no evidence that any of them cause much more serious illness for the vast majority of people who become infected."

also
"Current vaccines were designed around earlier versions of coronavirus, but scientists believe they should still work against the new ones, although perhaps not quite as well.
Early results suggest the Pfizer vaccine protects against the new variants, but is slightly less effective.
Data on two new coronavirus vaccines that could be approved soon - one from Novavax and another from Janssen - appear to offer some protection too.
Data from the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine team suggests their vaccine protects just as well against the new UK variant. It offers less protection against the South Africa variant - although it should still protect against severe Covid-19 illness.
Early results from Moderna suggest its vaccine is effective against the South Africa variant, although the immune response may not be as strong or long-lasting.
Variants could emerge in the future that are more different again.
Even in the worst case scenario, vaccines could be redesigned and tweaked to be a better match - in a matter or weeks or months, if necessary, say experts.
As with flu, where a new shot is given each year to account for any changes in circulating flu viruses, something similar could happen for coronavirus."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55659820

As I said yesterday, one of the benefits of vaccination, as I understand it, will be less chance for mutations to occur.

[ichkeria]

The only person being melodramatic here, rather irresponsibly imo, is the OP.
This isn't the opinion of the BBC, the Times, the Guardian, Sun, Fox News or anyone else, but of Professor Sharon Peacock, and like I say, it's hardly anything startling.

[margarettom]

Agree 100% with vulcan42 @ 08.45.

[Dagman]

Scaremongering and bad use of grammar to get people's attention. Relentlessly hitting readers over the head with the same stuff worded differently. Media at it's best!

[Ellipsis]

Our world-sweeping Kent variant ...

[mushroom25]

today Maidstone. tomorrow The World!! megalomaniac Skeletor Virus!

[douglas9401]

Well the place could do with a good tidy-up.

[Sqad]

"Could it sweep the world ?"
Of course it could.
"Will it sweep the world?"
It probably might
"Will this particular variant be contained with vaccine?"
Of course it will.

"Will there be a mutation not responsive to vaccines?"

The old adage in the medical world is as true today as it ever was:

"Never say never"

[ichkeria]

I still don’t see what is so horrendous about this compared to what we have now, which is a virus which has ... swept the world.
Is the problem the word “sweep”?
This is just a quote in any case, not the words of the broadcaster

[gulliver1]

This is one sweep I hope nobody wins.