- Discovery
- Locations of the Mutations in the Genome of the Virus
- Transmission
- Spread outside of South Africa

Grand Valley State University

A new strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was discovered in the Eastern Cape of South Africa as of the end of 2020. This new strain is called 501Y.V2.

South African Variant of SARS-CoV-2

Callaway, E. (2021). Fast-spreading COVID variant can elude immune responses. Nature, 589, 500-501. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-00121-z.

Fast-spreading COVID variant can elude immune responses

Characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 South African Variant

The SA B.1.351 variant was tested in humans against the mRNA-1273 Moderna vaccine. The variant led to a 6.4 fold decrease in neutralizing serum produced from the participants. The vaccine still effectively neutralized the variant despite a decrease in the concentration. There was no viral escape detected and the vaccine still met neutralizing titers set in NHP studies.

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