Coronavirus strain in UK picks up mutation that could impact vaccines, experts say

A mutation that could allow Covid-19 to escape antibody protection has now been found in samples of a rapidly spreading strain in the UK, according to a report Monday by Public Health England.

The mutation, called E484K, was already part of the genetic signature of variants linked to South Africa and Brazil. 

According to the PHE report, the mutation has been newly detected in at least 11 samples of the UK's B.1.1.7 strain. It also appears some of these samples may have acquired this mutation independently, instead of spreading from a single case.

This could mean a variant already known to be more transmissible also risks becoming somewhat resistant to the immune protection offered by vaccines, or more likely to cause reinfection among people who were previously infected, experts say.  

"This doesn't appear to be great news for vaccine efficacy," said Joseph Fauver, associate research scientist in epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health. 

He added the new finding is also something to keep monitoring in the US, where efforts to look for variants through genetic sequencing have lagged behind the UK. The fact that we've only seen this in the UK "may be a result of their robust genomic surveillance program," Fauver said.