New strain shows why we must vaccinate all

IT’S the nightmare scenario. A new, highly mutated Covid variant that is potentially both more transmissible and better able to evade vaccines.

We have been here before — with Delta — and appear to be learning the lessons. The Government is right to act quickly in placing South Africa and five other countries in the region on the red list. Travel restrictions are not a panacea, but critically they buy time.

For Britain, that is time for more people to come forward to receive a third or even a first dose and time to take all the other important precautions such as wearing a face covering on public transport.

This strain also draws attention to the need to vaccinate the world. Nations with large, unvaccinated populations are prone to rapid transmission and therefore greater opportunity for the virus to mutate. That is why the Standard has been running our Vaccine for the World campaign, a year-long undertaking aimed at building a global approach to vaccination, with a particular focus on the implications of unequal access to production and distribution.

There have, of course, been several new variants since Delta that have not caused significant alarm. And it is still early days as we learn more about this new strain. But there is no room for complacency. This new variant is a reminder, if we needed it, that the pandemic is not over, and that we all have a responsibility to do what we can to protect ourselves, our communities and our city.