New COVID-19 Variant Discovered in Israel
31 March, 2021 |
3 years ago
Jerusalem, 31 March, 2021 (TPS) -- A new Coronavirus (COVID-19) variant has been discovered in Israel, the Health Ministry announced Tuesday.
The ministry’s Central Laboratory for Viruses published a study mapping the COVID-19 strains that exist in Israel since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020 until January.
An Israeli variant was listed among the various mutations. The strain is uncommon and has no clinical or epidemiological significance, is not related to or causes widespread infection, severe morbidity, or has an effect on vaccine efficacy.
The Israeli variant appeared in samples from July but is disappearing and the evidence for it is dwindling.
The British variant is the dominant one in Israel and appeared in over 90% of the sequenced cases in Israel in February 2021.
The improvement in Israel’s situation vis-à-vis the Coronavirus is attributed to its success to rapidly vaccinate its population.
