COVID variant with ‘unusual constellation’ of mutations hits South Africa with 22 cases recorded 

South African scientists have discovered a new COVID-19 variant that may be more transmissible and more capable of evading vaccines due to its high number of mutations, sparking concern that it could spread rapidly throughout the country and world.

So far, 22 positive cases have been identified in South Africa, according to the country’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

The variant is displaying mutations that might resist neutralization, and scientists are still unclear how effective existing vaccines will be against it.

Currently identified as the B.1.1.529 variant, the new strain has a “very unusual constellation” of new mutations, Tulio de Oliveira, director of South Africa’s Centre of Epidemic Response and Innovation, said during a Thursday media briefing.

B.1.1.529 has more mutations to the “spike protein” than past variants, meaning that it could hamper the body’s immune response and spread more easily. The variant has 50 mutations overall and 32 in the spike protein, the vehicle by which the virus penetrates the body’s cells and the key target of the majority of vaccines. The highly contagious Delta strain, by contrast, had several mutations in its spike protein structure that make Delta particularly adept at allowing latching onto its host, more so than previous strains.

The Delta strain’s receptor binding domain (RBI)—where the virus first makes contact and binds to the body’s cells—had two mutations; compared to B.1.1.529’s ten RBI mutations.