A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, has been identified in the UK and may be growing faster than existing variants of the virus, health secretary Matt Hancock has said. 

It’s thought the new variant could be the cause of rising infection rates in London and the south of England. Here’s what you need to know.

What is the new variant called?

People on social media have already nicknamed the new variant: Covid-20. However its formal name is VUI – 202012/01, which basically stands for the first Variant Under Investigation in December 2020. 

A variant of SARS-CoV-2 is a version of the virus that has undergone some genetic changes, also known as mutations. Some mutations may change the characteristics of the virus and how it interacts with humans.

Does the new variant cause different symptoms?

As far as we know the new variant doesn’t cause other symptoms of Covid-19 and people are still advised to keep an eye out for a fever, persistent cough and loss of smell or taste.

Matt Hancock said it’s unlikely to cause more serious disease than other variants.

Does the vaccine still work with this variant?

Matt Hancock said it’s “highly unlikely” the vaccine won’t work with this new variant, however this is currently being assessed. He said we’ll know more in the coming weeks as the new variant is cultured in laboratories and tests are conducted. 

At present, we know the virus that causes Covid-19 is mutating relatively slowly, which is a positive. By comparison, the flu mutates much faster.

It’s important for scientists to monitor how the virus is mutating because it could impact the effectiveness of vaccines, the severity of illness, the transmissibility of the virus (how easily it spreads) and also the effectiveness of treatments, such as antiviral drugs.

This virus variant is being investigated in a Public Health England (PHE) laboratory to determine whether it shows increased infectivity, and whether it behaves differently in response to antibodies from people who have had prior infection or been vaccinated – this will take approximately 14 days.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been notified of the new variant.

Are scientists worried?

The general consensus is that it’s too early to be overly concerned. Alan McNally, a professor in Microbial Evolutionary Genomics at the University of Birmingham, said: “Over the past few weeks a few of the UK PCR testing labs have picked up on this new variant. Supported by The Covid-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium and rapid genomics it has been identified incredibly quickly.

“It is important to keep a calm and rational perspective on the strain as this is normal virus evolution and we expect new variants to come and go and emerge over time. It’s too early to be worried or not by this new variant, but I am in awe of the surveillance efforts in the UK that allowed this to be picked up so fast.”

Jonathan Ball, professor of Molecular Virology, at the University of Nottingham, adds: “It is important that we study any genetic changes as they occur, to work out if they are affecting how the virus behaves, and until we have done that important work it is premature to make any claims about the potential impacts of virus mutation.”