UK: Delta “Double Mutant” coronavirus variant B.1.617 “could be a lot more problematic than the South African and Brazilian variants”

Prof Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, told the Guardian that the arrival of the India variant was potentially worrying.  More...

UK: 100 blood clot cases and 22 deaths following vaccination with AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccination

“Up to 5 April 2021, the MHRA had received Yellow Card reports of 100 cases of major thromboembolic events (blood clots) with concurrent thrombocytopenia (low platelet counts) in the UK following vaccination with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca.  More...

Lebanon: possibly new highly transmissible coronavirus variant circulating since January 2021

Lebanese study: “our results represent the first epidemiological study in Lebanon to demonstrate the presence of new “S-mutant variant(s)” within our population, which may be similar to those previously identified in the UK, South Africa and Brazil, or a new one, that is responsible for the surge in COVID-19 cases during the third stage of the study”

“Whether the above variant(s) is one of the internationally identified lineages or is a new variant that has emerged within the Lebanese population remains to be deciphered.  More...

France: 25 cases of Breton coronavirus variant B.1.616 recorded so far, 22 in Brittany, 3 elsewhere

Clade 20C variant that emerged in Brittany.  A cluster of infections with a 20C clade variant (“20C / 655Y variant” or B.1.616), was detected in the Côtes d´Armor, with cases occurring between January and March 2021.  More...