Icon: enlarge
Corona vaccination in Italy
Photo: costa1ftg / IPA / imago images
They first appeared in the UK and South Africa: new variants of the coronavirus that are worrying medical professionals.
These pathogens can spread from person to person much more easily than before.
And that in turn means that they can only be contained with even stricter measures.
This is one of the reasons why Prime Minister Boris Johnson has sent his country into a strict lockdown.
The new virus variants observed in Great Britain and South Africa differ significantly from one another.
However, they each have several mutations on the so-called spike protein.
With its help, the pathogen gets into the body cells.
The spike protein is also used by the corona vaccines - regardless of the manufacturer - to prepare the immune system of vaccinated persons for later contact with the pathogen.
In this way, the body's defenses are prepared if they should encounter the virus.
Are the changed viruses now endangering the success of the corona vaccination, which is just starting with difficulty?
Experts have largely given the all-clear to this anxious question, at least for the time being.
Some are most likely to worry about the variant from South Africa because it has two additional mutations at crucial points.
"That doesn't mean that the existing Covid-19 vaccines don't work at all," says virologist Julian Tang from the University of Leicester, UK.
It is possible, however, that the antibodies induced by the current vaccines "may not bind and neutralize the South African variant as well as the other circulating viruses - including the British variant".
Read more with Spiegel Plus
More perspectives, more understanding.
Your advantages with SPIEGEL +
Icon: Check
SPIEGEL as a magazine
as an app, e-paper and on the e-reader
Icon: Check
All articles on SPIEGEL.de
Exclusive texts for SPIEGEL + readers
Icon: Check
Try one month for free
Cancel anytime online
A price
only € 19.99 per month
One month for € 0.00
Try now for 0.00 € Buy nowArrow to the right
Already have a digital subscription? Register here
Restore iTunes subscription
SPIEGEL + is processed via your iTunes account and paid for with a purchase confirmation.
24 hours before it expires, the subscription is automatically renewed by one month at the current price of € 19.99.
You can cancel the subscription at any time in the settings of your iTunes account.
In order to use SPIEGEL + outside of this app, you must link the subscription to a SPIEGEL ID account immediately after purchase.
With the purchase you accept our general terms and conditions and privacy policy.