UK Covid variant extremely unlikely to evade vaccines, scientists say

Antibodies collected from former patients very rarely target parts of virus mutated in new variant, research finds

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The new coronavirus variant that is sweeping the UK is extremely unlikely to evade immune responses generated by vaccines or a previous Covid infection, scientists say.

Researchers in the US found that antibodies collected from former patients very rarely targeted parts of the virus that were mutated in the new variant. Their work suggests only 0.5% of individuals are at risk of having reduced protection against the variant, named B.1.1.7.