Experts have urged Brits to stay alert to the new Pirola Covid variant amid fears it could trigger a fresh wave of infections and overwhelm the National Health Service (NHS).
According to MailOnline, "It comes less than 24 hours after health officials u-turned again on the autumn Covid and flu jab drive start date, bringing it forwards from October to September 11, with some experts already calling to 'vaccinate everyone'".
Wion reported that a new coronavirus (COVID-19) variant, BA.2.86 (nicknamed 'Pirola' on social media) has been reported in the United States and some other nations. It is said to be highly mutated from more recent versions and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added it to it watch list after it was added to the WHO's SARS-CoV-2 variant monitoring list.
BA.2.86 (or the Pirola) has caused concerns among some virologists as according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's August 23 risk assessment, some said that it has a large number of mutations, and it may be able to bypass immunity from the vaccine or recent infection with a different variant, Wion said.
A report by The Wall Street Journal, according to Wion, mentioned that the positive cases include people who haven't travelled recently. It indicates that there is community transmission. Concerns have also been raised as the variant has also been detected in wastewater in the US.
Health officials are spooked by Covid strain, Pirola, that is quickly spreading globally due to its catalogue of mutations, MailOnline said.
BA.2.86 carries an array of more than 30 mutations on its spike protein, which is the part of the virus that vaccines were designed to target.
Global cases of the Pirola have doubled in the last week and it has now been detected in the UK, US, Israel, Denmark, South Africa, Portugal, Sweden, Canada, Thailand and Switzerland, MailOnline noted.