Head of the School of Public Health at the University of Technology (UTECH). Dr. Kevin Harvey, says it's likely the Mu variant of covid-19 has been present in Jamaica for a long time, but is not as transmissible as the delta variant.
Dr. Harvey notes that the Mu is not a variant of concern, but one of four variants of interest being monitored by the World Health Organisation.
He says while Jamaicans need to be vigilant, there is no need to panic.
“ Despite the fact that we are use discovering Mu in Jamaica, it is likely that it would have been heard long ago. It’s just that now - we are finding that the Delta strain is the dominant strain and that is still the strain that we need to be worried about mostly.”
Harvey says despite emerging early this year, the Mu has not become a dominant strain of the virus. He also suggested that the Mu might not be spreading as fast as the Delta.
“There are a lot more studies to be done, it’s just that Delta has transmitted faster than Mu. We have not seen the extent of the Mu become dominant as the Delta has.”
In the meantime, Harvey says should current vaccines not work against emerging variants, tweaks can be made to them.
“We expect that the virus will outdo the vaccines - so we have to make a fly vaccine each year. So whenever you have a new strain, it is potentially possible that if these vaccines don’t work - a new one could be made, to reduce the effect of the current vaccine,” Harvey said.
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