Belgian researchers identify new coronavirus variant
Louisa Wright
March 29, 2021
Where did the new coronavirus variant in Belgium come from? Identifying the origin of a variant isn't always easy.
Image: Guillermo Legaria/Getty Images
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Researchers at the University of Liege in Belgium have identified a new coronavirus variant, B.1.214.2.
The variant has a number of key spike mutations and a spike insertion, according to PANGO Lineages, a website created by scientists that allows users to assign Sars-CoV-2 sequences the most likely lineages.
There are 332 B.1.214.2 sequences recorded on the website, where it is described as a European lineage. It was first identified in Switzerland, but 57% of all the sequences come from Belgium.
It has also been identified in France, the UK, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, the USA, Senegal, the Netherlands and Bulgaria.
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Variant origin still unknown
The variant is a sublineage of a variant first identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in April, 2020, B.1.214.
But the Liege scientists do not know where the new variant originated from.
"So far, it is very difficult to know where it came from," Vincent Bours, a professor of genetics at University of Liège, told DW. "And this is probably not very important," he added.
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Media misreport variant origins
An article in the Belgian newspaper Le Soir got the name of the variant wrong, and misreported that the Liege University researchers had identified the similarly named B.1.214 variant first identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in April 2020.
This led to the French newspaper Le Figaro accusing the researchers of claiming to identify B.1.214. Data from the GISAID Sars-CoV-2 database clearly shows that 37 sequences of this variant were recorded in DRC between April and June 2020, before one sequence appeared in Belgium in early June.
The article made it seem like a new coronavirus variant that had come from DRC was circulating in Belgium. But PANGO Lineages showed only one B.1.214.2 sequence in Africa, in the West African country Senegal.
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Travel history not unusual
The coronavirus is mutating all the time around the world, resulting in new strains. If the changes make the virus more dangerous to humans, for example, if it is more contagious or does not respond well to vaccines, it can be identified as a variant of concern, such as the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant first found in the UK, or the B.1.351 variant first found in South Africa.
Thirumalaisamy Velavan, the head of the Molecular Genetics of Infectious Diseases group at the University Hospital Tübingen in Germany, said that for a variant to become a variant of concern, scientists need to investigate whether the variant can replicate quickly, if it increases transmission or if it does not respond to vaccination.
Bours said that some patients with the B.1.214.2 variant do have a travel history but so do many patients with other coronavirus variants.
"Yes, some patients have a travel history, as it is the case for other variants," said Bours, "but we are currently trying to finalize the study of its introductions in Belgium."
COVID vaccinations begin across Europe
Eleven months after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Europe, EU states have kicked off programs to vaccinate the vulnerable and front-line health care workers.
Image: Ciro De Luca/REUTERS
Millions of initial doses produced
From Sweden to Cyprus, Lithuania to Italy, the push to get people their first shots is now under way, 11 months after the first cases were reported in Europe. EU leaders have dubbed the launch of the drive "V-Day," a moment of unity in a pandemic that has killed more than 1.7 million people worldwide.
Image: Marijan Murat/dpa/picture alliance
Elderly population a priority
Edith Kwoizalla, aged 101, was one of the first Germans to be vaccinated. She took the first of two doses at a care home in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt on Saturday, a day before the official launch. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said he expected 1.3 million doses to be delivered by the end of the year, with double that number by the end of January.
Image: Matthias Bein/dpa/picture alliance
Vaccine will also work on variant: BioNTech
The vaccine, developed partly by a German firm, has been snapped up by governments around the world. BioNTech has "scientific confidence" that its coronavirus vaccine will also work on the new variant detected in the UK, company CEO Ugur Sahin told DW.
The proteins on the mutated form of the virus were 99% the same as the prevailing virus, he said.
Image: Danny Lawson/empics/picture alliance
Hungary starts a day early
Hungary began vaccinating health care workers on Saturday, a day ahead of the EU's planned start date. Hungary has recorded over 316,000 cases and more than 9,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Image: Szilard Koszticsak/REUTERS
Polish paramedics vaccinated first
A Warsaw paramedic was one of the first people to receive the vaccine in Poland on Sunday. The first batch of 10,000 doses was transported from Pfizer's facility in Belgium to a warehouse in central Poland a day earlier. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the launch "a great step in fighting the epidemic."
Image: Kacper Pempel/REUTERS
Politicians aim to ease concerns
EU leaders and scientists have gone to great lengths to insist the vaccine is safe. In the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Andrej Babis (seen here) was at the head of the line for his vaccination on Sunday. In Vienna, three women and two men over the age of 80 got the vaccine in the presence of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
Image: David W Cerny/REUTERS
'I didn't feel anything': first Swedish patient
Sweden, which has received praise and criticism for its looser handling of the pandemic, is expecting an initial batch of 10,000 shots, along with Norway. Denmark expects to have enough shots to initially vaccinate 40,000 people in care homes, followed by health care staff and those people with a high risk of illness. Iceland will receive 10,000 doses early in January.
Image: Stefan Jerrevång/TT/picture alliance
First doses arrive in Cyprus
An 84-year-old man became the first patient to receive the coronavirus vaccine in Cyprus. While Europe has some of the best-resourced health care systems in the world, the sheer scale of the effort means some countries are calling on retired medics to help. Other countries have loosened rules for who is allowed to give the injections.
Image: Katia Christodoulou/AP/picture alliance
Three-stage program in Austria
A health care worker at the Hospital Favoriten in Vienna was one of the first in line to receive the vaccine. Austria is rolling the vaccine out through a three-stage program, starting with health care workers and people over the age of 65. Austria has recorded over 350,000 cases and more than 5,800 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Image: Lisi Niesner/REUTERS
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Mauricette, a 78-year-old French woman, was the first person to receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Rene-Muret hospital in Sevran, on the outskirts of Paris. France is aiming to vaccinate the first million people by the end of February. The country has been one of the hardest hit in Europe, with over 2.6 million recorded cases and nearly 63,000 deaths.
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Thumbs up in Italy
Italy began distributing the first batch of 10,000 shots on Sunday at the Niguarda hospital in Milan (seen here). In Rome, a 29-year-old nurse was the first to receive the jab at Rome's Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases. Health workers were first in line, with those over 80 to follow.
Image: Matteo Bazzi/REUTERS
Portugal aims for 10% of the population
The first phase of Portugal's vaccine rollout aims to inoculate 10% of the population, with front-line workers and those over 50 with preexisting conditions taking priority. Here, a medical worker receives the vaccine at Santa Maria hospital in Lisbon.
Image: Pedro Nunes/REUTERS
Ambitious rollout in Spain
Spain is set to receive 350,000 doses from Pfizer-BioNTech per week, with a total of nearly 4.6 million to be delivered over the next three months. The government has said it aims to vaccinate between 15 million and 20 million people in the first half of 2021. Here, a 72-year-old receives the first injection at the Vallecas nursing home in Madrid.
