Scientists say children more susceptible to new UK COVID-19 strain

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• COVID-19 has mostly affected adults, but the newly discovered strain in the UK shows that kids are now more vulnerable to it.
• According to members of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), the VUI 202012/01 mutation has higher chances of infecting children below the age of 15 due to an easier passage of the virus through the cells.
• The new variant has reportedly pushed the UK to enforce a lockdown and cancel Christmas due to rising COVID cases.

A report from a government advisory group of scientists reveals that the new COVID-19 variant discovered in the UK poses greater risks to children who were considered to be less susceptible to earlier strains.

Imperial College professor and member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) Neil Ferguson told reporters Monday that the new mutation, which caused London’s latest lockdown, appeared to have a higher tendency to infect children.

Citing previous studies, he said “cases for the variant in under-15s was statistically significantly higher than the non-variant virus,” the Independent reported.

Another NERVTAG member and virology specialist Wendy Barclay said the changes in the new variant have made it easier for the virus to enter human cells more easily, making children equally susceptible to this virus as adults.

“We’re not saying that this is a virus which specifically targets children,” she said, adding that it instead puts them “on a more level playing field” with adults in terms of getting infected, according to the Independent.

Named VUI 202012/01, the mutation, which brought about a surge in London cases, is said to be the main reason why the UK government was forced to cancel Christmas and cause other nations to close their borders.  

Peter Horby, NERVTAG’s chairman and professor at Oxford University said experts have “high confidence that this variant does have a transmission advantage over other virus variants that are currently in the UK.”

Though vaccines have already started rolling out across the UK, Barclay said they were not yet 100 percent confident that the vaccines would be effective against the new COVID-19 strain. Studies, she said, are at the moment being carried out in several labs nationwide, in the US, as well as the vaccine makers themselves.

Source: New York Post