New Variant of Covid-19 'Mu' could be more Vaccine Resistant.

A new Covid-19 variant 'Mu' or scintifically B.1.621 showed signs of possible resistance to vaccines. The global health body designated 'Mu' as a 'variant of interest' and is monitoring it closely. 

It was added to the WHO’s watchlist on August 30 which said that Mu possesses a "constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape". It also said that the variant’s prevalence should be interpreted with "due consideration" as all nations do not have proper sequencing facilities.

Over 4,500 sequences (3,794 B.1.621 sequences and 856 B.1.621.1 sequences), genome sequences and analysed samples of the virus which were taken from atients were designated as Mu in the past four weeks. These sequences are used to track how it moves through the population on GISAID, an open-source genome repository.

Countries in Which 'Mu' has detected:

The variant was first identified in Colombia in January 2021. As of now, several cases of Mu have been detected in different countries like,

• United States - 2,065 cases
• Colombia - 582 cases
• Mexico - 357 cases 
• Spain - 473 cases

Mu is the fifth variant of interest to be monitored by the WHO since March. It has a number of mutations that suggest it could be more resistant to vaccines, the WHO warned, but said that further research would be needed to confirm this.

Note - As the situation surrounding COVID-19 continues to evolve, it's possible that some data have changed since publication. While we are trying to keep our articles as up-to-date as possible, we also encourage readers to stay informed on news and recommendations for their own communities by using the CDC, WHO, and their local public health department as resources.