Europe: 'Concern' in Whitehall over COVID-19 cases says expert

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Meera Chand, PHE Incident Director for Covid, said: “Public Health England is aware of three UK cases of the B.1.526 lineage of SARS-CoV-2 that was first detected in New York.  “None of these cases feature the E84K or S477N mutations that are present on some Variants of Concern.  “PHE is monitoring the situation closely.

“We are working with partners across the world to identify and mitigate the impact of variants as they emerge.”

New York’s public health officials previously warned the strain is similar to South African variant.

The top US infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci said the strain can evade “some of the protection of antibodies, as well as the vaccine”.

He also warned that it is spreading “pretty efficiently” in the city.

The variant, which was first detected in November, was revealed to be responsible for around five percent of all positive tests in New York in late January, according to testing data.

Experts also claimed the figure went up to roughly 27 per cent in mid-February.

It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said today that he expected the third wave of Covid infections, seen in countries such as France and Italy, to “wash up on our shores as well”.

But Mr Johnson said he did not think the European Union wanted to block vaccine exports from reaching the UK, following suggestions Brussels could stop supplies from crossing the Channel amid struggles with its own rollout.

Speaking to broadcasters at BAE Systems in Lancashire on Monday, Mr Johnson said: “I’ve talked to our (European) friends repeatedly over the period – we’re all facing the same pandemic, we all have the same problems.

“If there is one thing that is worth stressing it’s that on the continent right now you can see sadly there is a third wave under way.

“People in this country should be under no illusions that previous experience has taught us that when a wave hits our friends, it washes up on our shores as well.

“I expect that we will feel those effects in due course.

“That’s why we’re getting on with our vaccination programme as fast as we can but a vaccination campaign and developing vaccines, rolling them out – these are international projects and they require international co-operation.”

Britain is also facing chaos over its vaccine rollout after European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who has come under pressure over the EU’s relatively poor vaccine rollout, ramped up the rhetoric at the weekend, saying the EU had the power to “forbid” doses from leaving the bloc.

The threat reflects growing frustration on the continent that the EU is not getting the supplies it expected from the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, which is manufacturing the Oxford vaccine.

Reports have suggested the latest focus of the row is on AstraZeneca vaccines produced in the Halix plant in the Netherlands, with officials arguing they should be kept for the EU rather than allowed to be exported to the UK.

The Prime Minister looked to cool talk of tension between London and Brussels over vaccine supply when asked about it on Monday.

Mr Johnson spoke to French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday, following talks earlier in the week with Ms von der Leyen and the Dutch and Belgian prime ministers Mark Rutte and Alexander De Croo.

“I’m reassured by talking to EU partners over the last few months that they don’t want to see blockades, I think that’s very important,” Mr Johnson told broadcasters.

The Prime Minister is expected to hold further conversations with his EU counterparts ahead of a virtual summit on Thursday where European leaders are due to consider a possible export ban.

Downing Street told reporters it remained “confident” in the UK’s vaccine supplies, and that the Government was “on track” to offer a jab to all those aged over 50 by April 15 and all adults by July.

The use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab in Europe has been hit by fears over blood clots, although the European Medicines Agency concluded it was a “safe and effective” jab.

On Monday, data from a US-led trial showed the vaccine is 79% effective at preventing Covid-19 and offers 100% protection against severe disease.

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