Covid-19 patient at Khayelitsha Hospital, near Cape Town, South Africa, December 29, 2020 © AFP / RODGER BOSCH
* Preliminary reports from South Africa suggest people with prior Covid infection could be reinfected with a new, more infectious variant of the virus, the World Health Organization said.
* Initial findings also show Covid vaccines may be less effective in protecting against new strains of the virus, but vaccination may reduce the severity of infection, WHO said.
* Vaccination may also decrease the spread of new Covid variants, according to WHO.
Preliminary reports from South Africa show people who have recovered from Covid-19 have been reinfected with a new, more contagious variant of the virus, World Health Organization officials said at a press briefing Friday.
The good news, however, is that the vaccines developed to guard against the virus appear to reduce the severity of illness in those who do develop Covid-19, even if it doesn’t completely protect them from infection, said the WHO’s chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan.
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Update #1: Patient critical after reinfection with coronavirus variant discovered in SA - study (News24/AFP)
Update #2: Covid reinfection symptoms: New variant sees sufferers infected again – symptoms to spot (Express)
Update #3: South Africans being infected with Covid-19 variant AGAIN after recovering from virus – WHO chief scientist (RT)
WNU Editor: The case loads for these new variants are doubling very quickly .... Coronavirus variant cases have doubled in US since the end of January (The Hill).
