Like The Beta Variant, The Mu Variant Is Suspected To Be Immune To The COVID-19 Vaccine

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) added a new variant of COVID-19 with the name Mu or B.1,621 as of August 30. This variant was first discovered in Colombia.

Allegedly, the Mu variant which is included in the variant of interest (VoI) classification has immunity to the COVID-19 vaccine, such as the Beta or B.1.351 variant.

"This variant is like the Beta variant, but it still has to be studied further," said vaccination spokesperson from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) Siti Nadia Tarmizi to VOI, Friday, September 3.

After cases of the Mu variant were discovered in Colombia in January 2021, the Mu variant was also detected in South America and Europe. Nadia said that the Mu variant has not yet been found in Indonesia.

"Until now Varian Mu has not been detected in Indonesia," he said.

Meanwhile, Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, said that the government continues to monitor the movement of travelers who come from abroad to within the country itself. One of the goals is to detect Mu variants.

"Although currently conditions tend to be normal and the opening of several sector openings is also being carried out gradually, the government continues to try to monitor domestic and foreign mobility with great caution," said Wiku.

Until now, WHO emphasized that the Mu variant still requires more in-depth research because this variant is still included in the VoI category.

VoI status is given to the variants that are still being observed to be able to conclude that this variant is more infectious than the original variant. If there has been an in-depth analysis, a variant can be placed in the status of variant of concern (VoC).

VoC status can be given if it is known that there is an increase in transmission or a marked change in the epidemiological situation. Then, there is an increase in virulence or a change in the patient's condition.

The variants included in the VoI status are Eta (B.1.525), Iota (B.1.526), Kappa (B.1.617.1), Lambda (C.37) and Mu (B.1.621). The variants that fall into the VoC category are Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), Gamma (P.1), and Delta (B.1.617.2)