The WHO warns that the new Mu variant of Covid-19 will be resistant to the vaccine

The WHO warns that the new Mu variant of Covid-19 will be resistant to the vaccine

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is closely monitoring the "variation of interest" in the new corona virus, Mu, and warns that the new variant is showing signs of resistance to the vaccine.

Mu - also known by its scientific name P.1621 - was first identified in Colombia in January 2021, and since then, there have been "sporadic reports" of cases and some major eruptions in South America and Europe, the UN Health Organization said in its weekly report on the epidemic on Tuesday.

Cases of mutation have been reported in the UK, Europe, the US and Hong Kong.

The new  varient  is being closely monitored, the UN health agency said.

Although the global prevalence of the variant in the listed Covid-19 cases is currently less than 0.1%, its incidence continues to increase in Colombia (39%) and Ecuador (13%).

The new variant was added to the WHO's watch list on August 30, and was found in 39 countries and was identified as the "galaxy of mutations that represent the potential properties of immune escape."

Mu is the fifth variation important to be observed by the WHO since March. It has various transformations that propose it very well may be more impervious to antibodies, the WHO cautioned, yet said that further examination would be expected to affirm this.

Preliminary data show that it may avoid immune defenses, similar to the beta variant first discovered in South Africa, which should be further confirmed by work, the UN said.

"More examinations are needed to comprehend the phenotypic and clinical attributes of this variation," it said, adding that the study of disease transmission of the Mu variation in South America, especially with the co-flow of the Delta variation, will be checked for changes.

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