COVID-19: 22 stable mutated strains identified worldwide, says Russia's health watchdog

Russian consumer rights and human welfare watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said on Friday, September 17 that there are nearly  22 stable mutations in the genetic built up of the coronavirus detected worldwide. The agency reportedly said that two of them were found to be most resistant and further added that there were thousands of COVID-19 genetic mutations. 

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News agency ANI quoted Rospotrebnadzor in a statement, "The total number of mutations that are collectively identified in the sequenced genomes of the SARS-CoV-2 virus amounts to many thousands, but only a few of them have been fixed and are stably inherited. Currently, there are about 22 such single mutations. It should be noted that these mutations have taken place in January – March 2020, and after that, there were no detected mutations in the genome of the virus”. 

COVID genome grouping investigation

The COVID genome grouping investigation shows that the most steady change is the development of two single transformations, found in more than 93 percent of the contemplated tests. The watchdog noted that the first mutated strains were detected in China at the end of January, and then in Australia. Therefore, slowly they were found in most of the countries of Western Europe, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Morocco, and Senegal. Rospotrebnadzor reportedly said that nearly  99 per cent of the tested samples in Russia contains these two mutated strains. 

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Meanwhile, the Russian COVID-19 vaccine was announced as the world’s first coronavirus vaccine by President Vladimir Putin on August 11. As per reports, more than 55,000 people have applied to take part in post-registration trials, following the clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine involving 40,000 volunteers that are currently underway. The first results of the trials are expected to be published in October-November 2020.

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(Inputs/Image: ANI)