COVID-19: NICD urges people to get vaccinated while it monitors variant Mu

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases on Monday it was watching developments around a new COVID-19 variant called “Mu”.

The World Health Organisation recently classified the Pango lineage b.1.621 as a variant of interest and assigned it the Greek name Mu.

The variant was first detected in January in Colombia and has since spread to many other countries.

“A variant that has started to dominate in South America, Colombia, Peru, all of those kinds of countries, but we haven’t yet picked it up in South Africa. We suspect that it has a higher level of compatibility than for example, the Beta and the Alpha,” said the institute’s Dr Jinal Bhiman.

She said both vaccines that were currently being rolled out in South Africa had high levels of protection against death and severe disease requiring hospitalization.

“People should finally get vaccinated, people should continue wearing the mask and following COVID protocol. Because all these things work, even against all the new variants that are coming up,” she added.

The jabs also offer protection against variants of interest such as Beta and Delta and therefore are also likely to have an effect against Mu.

-EWN

In other news – Thembinkosi Lorch unfollows sweetheart Natasha Thahane (Photos)

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Thembinkosi Lorch and Natasha Thahane seem to be indicating that there is trouble in paradise.. again. The Orlando Pirates player posted a cryptic message on his Instagram story about honesty. Learn More