A new variant of Covid could soon become the dominant strain in the UK, officials have warned, prompting experts to call for Covid vaccines to be included in preschool immunisation programmes.
Dubbed the ‘Cicada’ variant, the BA.3.2 virus is already rapidly spreading across the US, with cases now having been detected in 23 other countries including the UK.
UKHSA bosses have not revealed how many cases of the strain have been detected in the UK so far, but experts are concerned that the mutations it carries will allow it to sidestep immune defenses provided by existing vaccines.
Symptoms remain similar to that of the original virus including extreme fatigue, fever and body aches, but school-aged children seem to be more susceptible to the strain.
According to Professor Stephen Griffin, viral oncologist at the University of Leeds, this is partly the fault of ‘short-sighted’ advice forwarded by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to make vaccines ‘optional’ for children.
He said: ‘At present the dynamics of this virus don’t appear consistent with a fast-growing epidemic wave, more of a slow-building one we saw last year.
‘Nevertheless, more infection means more rolls of the dice and a greater chance that more advantageous changes may occur.
‘The risk of reinfection and juvenile long Covid were not taken into account back then and as such we must remember that many people remain relatively unprotected by vaccines.
Virologists have raised concerns over the catalogue of mutations the new strain carries
‘In my view, regular boosters should have expanded eligibility and Covid vaccines should be included in the preschool regimens, with boosters as per influenza,’ he concluded.
The variant’s spike protein, which vaccines train the body to recognise and attack, has now undergone around 75 mutations, analysis suggests, making it an entirely new threat to the immune system.
But, as Professor Paul Hunter, a microbiologist at the University of East Anglia, explains, this does not necessarily mean we will see an increase in deaths.
‘It is not surprising that a new variant has been described,’ he said.
‘The issue is whether the new variant poses a significant increased risk to public health.
‘It is likely that any new variant that is able to out-compete the other variants will increase infection rates but that does not mean that this will necessarily lead to substantial additional burden of the disease.’
This is partly due to the fact that mutations such as these don’t help the virus to spread. The issue is that vaccination rates are continuing to fall, the experts say.
‘We must remember that severe acute Covid is far less likely nowadays thanks to our vaccines, but this protection will be best when that vaccination is recent,’ Prof Griffin said.
Experts say vaccinations against the virus should be introduced to childhood vaccination programmes
‘Yes, there will be a high degree of ‘mismatch’ between BA.3.2.2 and current vaccines, which is unfortunate, and may mean the population as a whole experience more infections.
‘However, at present we don’t seem to be on the brink of a pandemic.’
Offering the Covid jabs to children during the pandemic was itself controversial at the time.
Some studies suggested two doses of the jabs offered just 10 per cent protection against catching certain strains.
Initially, the JCVI ruled against offering the vaccines to certain groups of healthy children, arguing that these children faced a vanishingly low risk severe illness from the virus.
But the JCVI’s position later evolved, with the reason given for approving the jabs, to protect their schooling and prevent further disruptions to their education.
Since then ministers have repeatedly said they won’t resort to imposing lockdowns unless a doomsday Covid variant appears.
A wall of immunity among the population—built up by repeated waves of infection and vaccine rollouts—has given officials confidence to consign pandemic-era measures to history.
Spikes in Covid cases can still cause mass illness across the country, sparking chaos in schools, the health service and public transport.
But officials also no longer track the prevalence of the virus in the same way they used to.
According to the latest figures, only 2 per cent of cases in England have been linked back to the BA.3.2.2 strain.
In the UK, Covid cases remain low with less than 500 reported cases.
