Little vaccination progress in Africa: new variants on the way?

The risk of virus variants and new mutations increases particularly in countries with a low vaccination rate. After the delta variant first dominated in India, it is now the most common virus variant in large parts of the world. Virus variants are also emerging on the African continent, which the Robert Koch Institute is monitoring with caution.

In Africa, the number of virus variants to be observed (variants of interest) is increasing – the reason for this could be the low vaccination rate and thus the large number of infections. These variants are under observation.

Virus variants: These mutations are under observation

While few sequences were analyzed at the beginning of the corona pandemic, the international science initiative GISAID has now carried out more than 40,000 sequencings.

Initially, the beta variant dominated in Africa for a long time, but now the delta variant is also spreading rapidly in Africa. In addition to the two known virus variants, other mutations are also under observation:

• Eta (B.1.525):  The Eta variant has been particularly active in Central African countries (Angola, Nigeria) since December 2020. The mutation has an increased infectivity and could also be associated with an altered immune response. It has therefore also been under observation since March 2021. In Germany, too, there are isolated infections with B.1.525 – by the end of June, the variant accounted for 0.4 percent of all infections. There are currently no new cases known.
• A.23:  The virus mutation initially took hold in prisons in Uganda. Later, the variant spread to the general population of Kampala. Due to various changes in the spike protein, an increased risk of infection can also be seen here. The variant has now further mutated and became established as A.23.1 in other countries. The mutation has not yet been detected in Germany.
• C.1:  Line C.1 also performed in Johannesburg in March 2020. The mutation resembles the structure of the beta variant and is determined by different mutations of the spike protein and other virus structures. Here, too, increased infection and a possibly reduced immune response are to be expected. Last year, C.1 spread within South Africa, so far no case has been registered in Germany.

In order to prevent the spread of the  corona  virus and the emergence of potentially dangerous virus variants, a high vaccination rate would also have to be achieved in Africa. So far, the vaccination rate in Africa is below one percent in many countries. Only the holiday destinations Seychelles (70 percent) and Morocco (about 16 percent) achieve a higher number of vaccinated.