Mu Covid variant: WHO monitors the situation of the Colombian strain, which could be more resistant to vaccines
The World Health Organization is closely following a new variant of Covid-19 renamed “Mu” or B.1.621 and isolated for the first time in Colombia. The WHO in particular on August 30 included it in the list of variants “of interest” as from the initial assessments it is believed that it may be resistant to vaccines and monoclonal antibodies. However, the organization stresses that further studies will be needed to evaluate this aspect and the level of contagiousness of the Mu Covid variant compared to other strains.
The Mu Covid variant is on the list of “worrying” variants together with the sunny Lambda for the first time in Peru. The first variant (Alpha) had been identified in the UK and was followed by Beta (South Africa) and Gamma (Brazil). By “worrying” we mean a mutated strain that is more contagious than Covid 19 in Wuhan and which is more resistant to current vaccines and treatments or with a higher mortality rate. The Mu Covid variant is currently present in 39 countries even though it represents less than 0.1% of cases globally. Despite this, scientists confirm that the presence of the Colombian strain “constantly increased”.