Minister Of Research And Technology Bambang Said That The COVID-19 Variant From England Has Not Been Proven To Interfere With The Performance Of Vaccines

Illustration (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Research and Technology (Menristek) Bambang Brodjonegoro said the new variant of SARS-COV-2, B117 from the UK has not been proven to interfere with the performance of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"So far B117 has had an impact on the spread of the virus more rapidly and could interfere with the performance of the PCR test, but it has not been proven to cause more severity and has not been proven to interfere with the performance of the vaccine," said Minister of Research and Technology Bambang as quoted by Antara, Tuesday, March 2.

The B117 variant was found in Indonesia through whole genome sequencing activities in samples of the corona virus that causes COVID-19 which was transmitted in Indonesia. Of the 462 WGS conducted, two cases were identified as containing the new variant from England.

Even though new variants were found, Menristek Bambang said that the development of the COVID-19 vaccine independently was still going on as scheduled.

It has been a year of corona in Indonesia, since March 2020. In March last year, the government officially released COVID-19 into Indonesia, mentioning cases 01, 02 and so on. VOI editorial team tried to rewrite when COVID-19 appeared in Indonesia. What and how confused this country is. Click here for more news.

According to him, of course, testing the performance of vaccine seeds against these new variants will still be carried out.

Contacted separately, Head of the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, Amin Soebandrio, said that his party would first confirm the effect of this variant. Further research will be carried out, but vaccine development is not disrupted.

Eijkman targets that the Red and White vaccine seeds he has developed based on recombinant protein subunits will be handed over to PT Bio Farma in March 2021.

The Red and White Vaccine is important to support the nation's independence against the COVID-19 vaccine and the national vaccination program.

Reportedly, a new variant of the corona that causes COVID-19, B 117 from England was found in Indonesia during the examination of two virus samples, exactly a year warning COVID-19 on Monday, March 1 last night.

The UK announced the discovery of a new strain of SARS-CoV-2 mutated by the name B 117 at the end of 2020. Variant B 117 is more infectious than other variants.