Ministers and scientists expressed concern last week that the new Botswana Covid variant not only had the potential to be more infectious than previous variants, but that existing vaccines might be less effective at fighting it off.
Last Friday, drug firm Pfizer said it was investigating the mutation – labelled Omicron by the World Health Organisation – to assess whether an ‘adjustment’ was needed to its jab.
The American firm said it could develop new doses in six weeks and begin shipping in just over three months.
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Yet experts told The Mail on Sunday that there is one jab ready to go that might already be highly effective against this version of the virus: the one developed by French firm Valneva and ordered by the UK Government – but then cancelled.
It could have an advantage over current jabs because the way it’s been made differs.
It contains what is known as a fully inactivated virus – a whole Covid virus that has been neutralised.
Though it can’t cause illness, the immune system reacts by recognising the threat and creating antibodies and other fighter cells, enabling the body to fight off the real virus if it becomes infected.
There is one jab ready to go that might already be highly effective against this version of the virus: the one developed by French firm Valneva and ordered by the UK Government – but then cancelled
The 'monster' strain, named Omicron and designated a 'variant of concern' by the World Health Organisation on Friday, has reached the UK and Belgium after being discovered in South Africa
Other shots such as Pfizer and AstraZeneca use genetic fragments from one part of the Covid virus, called the spike protein – the section that allows it to bind with healthy cells.
It is this part that’s prone to mutations: the 32 mutations seen in the Botswana variant are all found on the spike protein, which increases the chances that
