London, January 4: It is still unclear whether COVID-19 vaccines will work on a new variant of the coronavirus found in South Africa. ITV's political editor on Monday raised doubts over the efficacy of the vaccine against the new variant of coronavirus. Earlier in the day,  British Health Secretary Matt Hancock expressed the same concern.

"According to one of the government's scientific advisers, the reason for Matt Hancock's 'incredible worry' about the South African COVID-19 variant is that they are not as confident the vaccines will be as effective against it as they are for the UK's variant," reported global news agency Reuters quoting ITV political editor Robert Peston as saying. UK Bans Entries from South Africa After New COVID-19 Strain Different to UK Variant Found.

In the past few weeks, new variants of coronavirus were reported in both the United Kingdom and South Africa. According to scientists, the new South African variant is different from other mutants. According to the report by the global news agency, the new South African variant of the virus as multiple mutations in the important "spike" protein that the virus uses to infect human cells. The new variant has a higher viral load and can be transmitted faster. Current Vaccines Will Protect Against New COVID-19 Strains Found in UK and South Africa: Govt.

Notably, scientists are of the opinion that the vaccine could work on the UK variant of coronavirus, but they have doubts whether the vaccines would work on the South African variant. In December last year, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced more stringent measures in some coastal provinces, including the closure of the beaches as daily infections rose exponentially in the last month of the year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 04, 2021 07:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).