A health expert has said it is likely that that the coronavirus variant first detected in India will become a variant of concern.
Three cases of the B.1.617 variant have been reported in Ireland, with two associated with travel. Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory Dr Cillian de Gascun said yesterday that public health investigations are ongoing, but said the variant is not of concern at this point.
Scientists are concerned about variants that have key changes in the spike protein of the virus. Mutations in a specific region of the spike protein may allow the virus to evade or partially evade the effectiveness of vaccines or natural immunity.