The British Variant Of The New Coronavirus-19 (Sars-Cov-2) Should Not Create A Vaccine Problem

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly contagious virus that infects humans and a number of animal species causing coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), a respiratory distress syndrome which has provoked a global pandemic and a serious health crisis in most countries across our planet. COVID-19 inflammation is mediated by interleukin (IL)-1 and is a disease that can cause symptoms such as fever, cough, lung inflammation, thrombosis, stroke, renal failure and headache, to name a few. Strategies that inhibit IL-1 are certainly helpful in COVID-19 and can represent one of the therapeutic options. However, to date, COVID-19 therapy has been scarce and, in many cases, ineffective, since there are no specific drugs other than vaccine that can solve this serious health problem. Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, which are the newest approach, are already available and will certainly meet the many expectations of the population. mRNA vaccines, coated with protected soft fatty lipids, use genetic mRNA (plus various inactive excipients) to make a piece of the coronavirus spike protein, which will instruct the immune system to produce specific antibodies. The soft fatty lipids allow the entry of mRNA into cells where it is absorbed into the cytoplasm and initiates the synthesis of the spike protein. In addition, vaccination also activates T cells that help the immune system respond to further exposure to the coronavirus. mRNA induces the synthesis of antigens of SARS-CoV-2 virus which stimulates the antibody response of the vaccinated person with the production of neutralizing antibodies. The new variant of the coronavirus-19 has been detected in the UK where, at present, the government has imposed a lockdown with restrictions on international movements. The virus variant had already infected 1/4 of the total cases and in December 2020, it reached 2/3 of those infected in the UK. It has been noted that the spreading rate of the British variant could be greater than 70% of cases compared to the normal SARS-CoV-2 virus, with an R index growth of 0.4. Recent studies suggest that coronavirus-19 variation occurs at the N501Y level of the spike protein and involves 23 separate mutations on the spike, 17 of which are linked to the virus proteins, thus giving specific characteristics to the virus. In general, coronaviruses undergo many mutations that are often not decisive for their biological behavior and do not significantly alter the structure and the components of the virus. This phenomenon also occurs in SARS-CoV-2. It is highly probable that the variants recently described in the UK will not hinder vaccine-induced immunity. In fact, the variant will not neutralise the vaccine, although it may possibly make it a little less effective. It is therefore pertinent to think that the vaccine will work also against the SARS-CoV-2 variant. In today's pandemic, the D614G mutation of the amino acid of corronavirus-19, which emerged in Europe in February 2020, is the most frequent form and causes high viral growth. The previously infrequent D614G mutation is now globally dominant. This variant, which is being tested in many international laboratories, is rapidly spreading across the continents and a series of vaccinated subjects are being tested to see whether their antibodies can neutralize the new variant of SARS-CoV-2. This variant has a very high viral growth and is less detectable with the RT-PCR technique in the laboratory.It has been reported that the British variant that increases viral load does not cause more severe effects in the respiratory tract and lung disease, therefore, it is certain that the variant is growing rapidly and must be kept under control; for this reason, laboratory data is awaited impatiently. The study on the many variants that coronavirus-19 presents is very interesting and complete and clearer data on this topic will be available in the near future. In addition, it is still unclear whether the different variants discovered in many countries, including Africa, share the same spike protein mutation and therefore, this is another study to elaborate on. In order to be certain and to not have unexpected surprises, we need to reduce the spread and the transmission speed of viral variants that could appear around the world, creating new pandemics. For this reason, the scientific community is on the alert since laboratory tests on serum antibodies from COVID-19 survivors have been reported to be less effective in attacking the variant. In light of the above, the scientific community must be on the alert as larger variants of the spike protein could escape vaccine-induced antibodies, which for now are of great help to the community and can save millions of lives. In depth study of spike protein mutations will help to better understand how to combat coronavirus-19 and its variants.