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It was inevitable that COVID-19 would mutate, as all viruses do, which is why the race to vaccinate as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, is on.

A new variant of COVID-19 first identified in South Africa has started to make its way around the world, and was recently discovered in the US for the first time.

Two cases of the new variant were found in South Carolina, but do not appear to be connected. Nor do the people infected have a history of travel.

The US currently has travel bans on South Africa due to rising infection rates.

Per The Guardian, Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the US, said that he found the variant ‘troubling’ because it appears to be resistant to existing approved vaccines.

Several studies have been conducted on the efficacy of the available vaccines on the variant, 501.V2, which carries a mutation called E484K, or the “escape mutation”, which makes it difficult for antibodies to attach themselves to the virus.

The new variant, according to the BBC, is more contagious than its previous iterations and different from the one that originally appeared in the US and the UK.

Scientists have concluded that it could have some effect on the efficacy of the vaccine, but that it varies from vaccine to vaccine.

In a report released today by Novavax, Stanley C. Erck, President and Chief Executive Officer, says that in their latest trials, the vaccine demonstrated “not only high clinical efficacy against COVID-19 but also significant clinical efficacy against both the rapidly emerging UK and South Africa variants”.

Like most vaccine producers, they are also constantly working on boosters and modified vaccines to account for mutations.

QUARTZ notes that several studies have shown a “reduction in the efficiency of both Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines on the South African variant”.

However, Moderna says that the efficacy “remains above levels that are expected to be protective”, and is also working on boosters shots to keep on top of things.

The only way to counter mutations is to roll vaccines out at a rate that prevents infection through which the mutations can occur.

In South Africa, an alarmingly high percentage of citizens indicated in a mid-December poll that they would rather not be vaccinated. Some healthcare professionals have also said that they would refuse the vaccine.

Most have complained that there isn’t enough information for them to make an informed choice, but Barry Schoub, chair of the Vaccine Ministerial Advisory Committee, says that that information will be made available soon.

[sources:bbc&quartz&guardian]