CONCERNS OVER VIRUS VARIANTS INCREASE

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Korean health authorities say that to achieve herd immunity by November, the nation needs a stable supply of vaccines, a high vaccination rate and swift response to Covid-19 variants. However, concerns are rising as a new study says the variants can stay infectious for five days more than the existing virus.

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Researchers at Harvard University have released a thesis explaining why COVID-19 variants pose a greater threat. They conducted a study on 65 pro-basketball players infected with coronavirus. The study showed that the UK variant survived in the body for 13.3 days on average, five days longer than the existing virus. The researchers also found that the virus reproduced in the body twice as long, and it took nearly 30 percent more time for the immune system to get rid of it. This means virus variants stay in the body longer. This leads to more severe symptoms, higher mortality rates, or stronger contagiousness.

[Soundbite] Kim Woo-joo(Prof., Korea Univ. Guro Hospital) : "The virus is shed for a longer period of time and can infect more people. The quarantine period may have to be extended."

Pharmaceutical companies are stepping up efforts to upgrade the already developed vaccines to make them respond to new variants. Moderna was first to start development of a new vaccine last month. Pfizer finished the manufacturing of a new vaccine last week and is considering clinical trials. AstraZeneca also plans to start the production of a new vaccine this coming fall. The USFDA says the new vaccines can be tested on fewer people, probably just hundreds, adding the results could be ready within two or three months. Meanwhile, Nottingham University in the UK has announced plans to manufacture a second-generation versatile vaccine that can respond to most of the COVID-19 variants. In Korea, the total number of variant cases currently stands at 128. Of those, more than 75 percent are imported and the community spread has been slow so far.